


A Way Out

by T_J_Lexx



Category: The Originals (TV), Vampire Diaries (TV)
Genre: Compulsion, Dark Character, F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-04-07
Updated: 2014-04-08
Packaged: 2018-01-18 13:47:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 21
Words: 27,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1430752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/T_J_Lexx/pseuds/T_J_Lexx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Caroline flips her humanity switch and ends up in New Orleans with Klaus. Only he would let her be her glorious, free vampiric self. Klaus wants to help her back to her humanity but will it be she who helps him find his way? All this in the midst of Hayey's pregnancy and the war for New Orleans.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

When Katherine Pierce killed her, she cried.  
When she thought Tyler was dying, she shed tears then too.  
Now her mother was dead. And the tears would not come.  
The latest victim of Silas' killing spree, her mother had a stately, tasteful funeral. Caroline would have nothing less. She planned the funeral as a good daughter would. She smiled and accepted condolences. She arranged the flowers and wrote a beautiful eulogy. Stefan, Elena, Bonnie and Matt helped her and tried to comfort her as best they could but they could tell something was off. They knew inside that the "I'm ok"s were false.  
After the funeral, Caroline smiled and walked out of the graveyard, thanking everyone for coming as she went. She got in her car and drove to the house she could barely bear to step into now, knowing that her mother was never coming home. She climbed the stairs, went into her bedroom and started throwing clothes into a suitcase. When she felt she had packed enough, she zipped the case up and lugged it downstairs. As she flung it into her trunk, her phone started to go off. She turned it off without checking it. She didn't care who it was. She jumped into her car and sped away, leaving Mystic Falls behind with a sigh of relief.

Klaus zipped through the night faster than the blink of an eye. There had been many attacks before but the utter inferiority of this last one infuriated him. One impetuous Night-Walker had actually tried to take him out on his own. The fool. To think that klaus Mikaelson could be so easily killed.  
Unfortunately, he was fast. Klaus had been chasing him for almost an hour through the French Quarter of New Orleans. He was getting bored of the chase but he had a reputation to uphold. Klaus did not let such infractions go unpunished. He was now running down a long street on the east side of the quarter, the young Night-Walker still in his sights. He dug in a little more and closed the gap slightly.  
Just then, a blur ran across the street in front of the young vampire, who made a jerking motion and fell to the ground, blood pooling underneath him.  
Klaus stopped just above his body and looked around. What/who was that? If he hadn't been a vampire, he would never have seen it, it had happened so fast. Just then, the night air buzzed behind him in that way it did when a vampire ran through it. He snapped around to see Caroline holding the Night-Walker's heart out to him, her face as peaceful as a statue but covered in blood.


	2. Chapter 2

Klaus softly stroked Caroline's blonde locks as she slept next to him. He marveled at the way the sun illuminated her bare shoulders. The angelic look on her sleeping face was at complete odds with the demon he had witnessed last night. He went over the night's events in his mind.

Caroline stood before him holding the vampire's heart in her hands. Klaus looked at it, then at her, then back to the heart. After a thousand years, Klaus didn't shock easily but this turn of events was definitely not expected. In as flat a tone as he could manage, Klaus said,  
"What are you doing here?"  
In as equally flat a tone, Caroline replied, "I was in town, wanted to say hand just happened to see you chasing a guy. I could see you weren't too pleased with him so I killed him. You're welcome."  
Klaus looked her over. She was wearing a black dress and pearls, like she had been at a funeral but was barefoot but for her stockings. Her face was smeared all over with blood and her vampire face was on. The black bulging veins surrounding her darkened eyes starkly contrasted with the paleness of her skin under the blood. The disturbing thing was that her facial expression was completely blank. Klaus knew that something was terribly wrong with her. That was why he brought her back to his house. He led her upstairs to a bedroom and left her alone to clean herself up. He retired to his own room next door. Everything in Klaus wanted to ask her what was wrong but he had his own suspicions about that and if he was right, a late night conversation would not make it all better.

Caroline looked around the room Klaus had left her in. It was nice, if a bit impersonal. There was a queen-sized bed, a boudoir, a closet and a plasma tv on the wall facing the bed. French doors opened onto an expansive opera-style balcony. Caroline would check that out tomorrow. She made her way to the closet and swung the carved mahogany door open.  
How could she have ever thought the room was impersonal? The closet was chock full of clothes, all in her size and all things she would actually wear. Everything from casual wear to ball gowns was there. After glancing at everything, she pulled out an oversized tee shirt and threw it on the bed. She then pulled off her own crumpled clothes and went into the adjoining bathroom.  
Within minutes, she was luxuriating under the warm jets of the shower. She has been so blindly ecstatic the last few days, gorging herself on blood that she had forgotten how horrific she must look. As the red water ran down her legs and pooled at her feet, she went over her plan in her head.  
After seeing how the Salvatores had been on Elena's back when she had flipped her switch, she knew she could not be a de-humanified vamp in Mystic Falls. She went on a bit of a road trip then came to New Orleans hoping Klaus still felt enough for her to let her stay at his place. She wasn't really about that nomad life. If that didn't work, she still had a few tricks up her sleeve. She had already started by killing that vamp that had pissed him off.  
Her mom dying had been the last straw. Just before she had turned her humanity off, Caroline remembered that empty, aching hole that lived in her chest. She remembered all the times the fact that her mom was dead hit her afresh and with that, a wave of loss and despair so severe it felt like it was drowning her. Caroline didn't want to deal with that. She couldn't deal with that.  
As the last of the blood washed off and she turned off the shower, Caroline reached for a towel and patted herself dry. As she stepped out of the shower, she thought, 'And commence Phase 2..."

Klaus was about to fall asleep when he felt something brush his ear as slight pressure was applied to his cock. Startled, he jumped out of bed and pinned his attacker to the wall with vampiric speed.  
Seeing that his "attacker" was nothing but a naked Caroline, Klaus let her go. He unabashedly looked at her body. Her body was slightly damp still and it made her already tempting body look so lush. The way the curve of her breast drew attention to her slender waist and firm hips...Klaus snapped himself out of it and looked Caroline in the face. Her bloody, vampire face was gone but that unnerving blank expression was still in place.  
As he confusedly mumbled, "Caroline, what..." Caroline was doing some body appreciation of her own.  
Klaus was wearing loose, grey sweatpants and no shirt so his smooth muscles were fully in display. Caroline slowly raised her hand and rested them on his firm chest muscles. Squeezing slightly, she brought them down to his stomach and then dipped one hand into the waistband of his pants  
Still confused, Klaus took a step back and held his arms out to stop her. Ignoring him, Caroline pushed him back onto the bed and straddled him. Not waiting to give him another chance to talk, she pressed her lips to his and ground her hips hard against his pelvis. As her tongue broke through his lips and their tongues engaged in that sweet battle for dominance, Klaus began to caress her breasts. He pulled away from her lips and turned his own to her pert, pink nipple. Every tug of his soft lips, every lave of his tongue sent a wave of warmness to her center. Caroline threw her head back and moaned with pleasure. She hadn't felt this good in a long time but she couldn't allow him to drag this out.  
Pulling his pants down slightly and freeing his erect penis, Caroline rose up and positioned herself above it. Klaus' groan of pleasure as she impaled herself on his turgid length only aroused her more. Caroline had to go slowly at first; Klaus stretched and filled her like no other before. But once she had taken all of him and acclimatized, she rose back up and slid down again more quickly, trying to get a rhythmn. Klaus held her hips and guided her. He watched her ride him and thought he had never seen a sight more glorious. The way she enjoyed him with such reckless abandon, throwing her head back and moaning his name, the way her body rippled with every movement on his cock, was bringing Klaus closer and closer to the edge. As loathe as he was not to see her climax, he closed his eyes as he found his own relief, letting the waves of ecstasy her body was giving him rock through his body and send him to a place of absolute bliss.

Now that he was no longer distracted by the whirlwind of pleasure that was Caroline Forbes' body, Klaus could now turn his mind to more serious matters, like why Caroline was acting so unlike herself, and how or if she would fit into his life here, what with Hayley and Marcel...he shook himself. It was too early to be thinking this way. Why couldn't he just enjoy the moment and not think about the future?  
He was then torn from his reverie by the shrill chirp of a call phone.


	3. Chapter 3

Caroline was awoken by the shrill chirp of a cell phone. Knowing it could only be someone from Mystic Falls, she hid her annoyance by moaning as if irritated to have been woken up and snuggling closer to Klaus' chest. She knew he would find it cute. She felt the low chuckle in his chest as he gently caressed her back.

"Don't you want to get that, love?"

"Nooooooo," she moaned sleepily, "I want to stay in bed with you."

Klaus pressed a kiss to her hairline. Caroline sighed happily; she was playing him like a harp. Just then Klaus roused her and got out of bed, saying he had something to show her. She watched him reach into the drawer of the nightstand next to the bed. He looked up at her, smiling.

"Close your eyes," he said.

She gave him a "Really?" look but closed her eyes anyway. Klaus eased back into bed and wrapped an arm around her. Caroline felt a slight breeze against her side and a pain in her neck. The small, prick of pain became a searing one as it travelled down into her chest and up into her brain. Her eyes flew open. She didn't even struggle as she rasped "Vervain…" before she passed out.

Hours later, Klaus watched Caroline stir in her restraints. He had bound her in chains in the basement of his house. He hadn't wanted to do this but he couldn't take any chances with the strange way she had been acting. Killing just for the hell of it, coming so eagerly to his bed…this wasn't Caroline and he knew it. After he vervained her, he had checked her phone and saw numerous texts, emails, voicemails and calls from Elena and Matt. Two red flags there. Why were they blowing up her phone so hard and why would she avoid them so long? Again, unlike Caroline. The pieces were coming together to make a picture Klaus didn't find too pretty. She might be playing the distraction again so that her cohorts could carry out yet another plot to kill him. Or even worse, it might be Silas in his head again. Klaus knew the chanced of Caroline telling him the truth right off were slim so he brought her to his torture chamber to scare her. He hoped it wouldn't come down to actual torture. Caroline stirred again, this time more fervently. She would soon come to.

Caroline fought through the burning haze in her head with difficulty. She groaned at the pain in her muscles and cracked open an eyelid. Nothing. Just darkness. But when she dared open her eyes a bit more, she realised she was in a room of some sort, a basement by the looks of it. There was barely any light. She didn't need to move to feel the dead weight around her wrists and ankles. She was still in too much pain to move anyway.

"Nice of you to join the living again, love," Klaus said sarcastically from the shadows, "well maybe not the living…"

Caroline groaned and replied, "WHY are you doing this?"

The groan was more for dramatic effect than actual pain. If he had any sympathy left for her, she had to work that.

"Do not mistake my affection for stupidity, Caroline," Klaus stated darkly, "What are you up to?"

Caroline looked at Klaus confusedly. "What am I-what are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb. Last time I checked, you were incomprehensibly  
devoted to the Lockwood boy. Now you show up here and jump into bed with me. Not to mention, despite being one of the most controlled vampires I know, you only drank from blood bags because you didn't want to hurt humans. Now, you not only did you kill a vampire because you apparently thought I might appreciate it, you were a literal bloody mess last night so I know you've been feeding on humans. This is too unlike you…almost scarily so."

Caroline studied Klaus after his little diatribe. His tone was angrily accusatory but also frustrated. The uncertainty of not knowing frightened him. Might be time to alter the game plan, thought Caroline. She sighed and dropped he hurt act, a ablank expression taking over her face.

"Klaus, look, I get it, I do. You have to protect yourself and your interests but I am not a threat…and I can prove it."

She saw a glimmer of curiosity in his eyes. "How?"

"I have information you might find useful. I'll impart it just to show good faith."

"You expect me to believe you came all the way to New Orleans to tell me something? Wouldn't a call have sufficed, sweetheart?"

"Maybe I wanted an excuse to come down here. Maybe I even want to help you. In any way I can…"

Caroline left the sentence hanging. Klaus chortled.

"Information and help? Now I know you want something."

"Well now that you mention it, I have grown attached to the bedroom you let me use…"

Klaus raised an eyebrow. She had to be pulling his leg. All this mystery, these out-of-character actions, now she wanted to stay in his house? Attempts to make sense of this were making his head hurt. However…if she was moving against him, the house was the best place to keep an eye on her. Keep your friends close and your enemies closer. While a small part of him liked the idea of her sharing his home, this wasn't the Caroline with whom he had longed to live. He sighed.

"Fine. What is this information you have for me?"


	4. Chapter 4

"I don't understand. She's a monster. You know what she's done to you, to me, to ALL of us. Why do you want to protect her?"

"What do you want me to do, Caroline? Kill her? Now? When she's so defenceless?

"No, of course not. I know you would never do that."

"Or maybe…" Stefan said, looking Caroline over.

"Maybe what?"

After a pause, Stefan said, "You think I should hand her over to Klaus."

"I make no apologies for that. She would deserve anything he did to her but…it's up to you."

Stefan hung his head. "You know I'm not going to do that."

Caroline sighed and walked over to her friend. She put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed gently. When he looked up, she smiled softly and hugged him. He returned it. She knew Stefan would never betray her like that. If he would, he wouldn't be the Stefan she knew and loved.

Still embracing him, she said, "And you know…that I'm not going to change my mind."  
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Without reservation, Caroline said, "Elena gave Katherine the cure. Now that there's a human doppelganger again, you can make hybrids."

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Klaus heard him approach and vamp-ran to the door and opened it before he could knock. Klaus had sent him on a very important procuring mission. Looking intently at the man on his doorstep, he asked,

"Did you get it?"

The man nodded. Klaus breathed a sigh of relief. The man held up a bag.

"The biggest carton of Rocky Road and the largest jar of pickles I could find, sir."

Klaus took the bag from the man and walked back inside. He was about to take it upstairs when he heard someone tutting at him from the top of the stairwell. Knowing who it was, Klaus groaned.

"What is the problem now, Elijah? Klaus snarled as he stared daggers at his older brother.

"We have been on this earth for a thousand years, Niklaus. I know somewhere along the line you picked up enough etiquette and decorum to at least put icecream in a bowl with a spoon for a guest."

Klaus guffawed, "A guest? I don't want her here-"

"She is your responsibility, Niklaus."

With a last look, Klaus zipped into the kitchen and fixed a bowl of Rocky Road and a plate of pickles, placed them on a tray, then walked slowly and deliberately back to the stairwell. He then vamp-ran up the stairs until he was right in front of Elijah. The tray poked the Original in the chest as Klaus spoke.

With a smile, he said, "Why don't you take it to her? You're going to end up feeding it to her anyway. Give dear Hayley my best."

Elijah calmly took the tray from his brother and zipped down the hallway and into a room. Klaus rubbed his temples as he walked back down the stairs. Elijah had shown up on his doorstep a few days ago with Hayley, saying that the current accommodations were no longer secure and that the girl had to stay at the house. She had been driving Klaus mad with her incessant cravings ever since. Even as a vampire, Klaus knew that ice cream and pickles had to taste revolting. Between her and Caroline, it had been a stressful few days.

He kept Caroline from seeing Hayley but it wasn't hard since Caroline was often out. He had been told she talked to a couple people in town, including Marcel and some of his boys but he still didn't know what she was up to. He didn't like it. She could possibly be aligning herself with his enemies but ti was to early to say for sure. Her tip about Katherine had been right though. A compelled associate of his was retrieving some blood from Mystic Falls even then.

Klaus held onto that thought. With the doppelganger blood, he could make hybrids, an army, his army. And he could finally take back New Orleans.  
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The leaves rustled as the wind blew through Bourbon Street. As she walked home, Caroline mulled over the conversation she just had with a member of Marcel's inner circle. They had met a few times before, at some parties. They had danced and talked. Tonight, they had met at Sophie Deveraux's bar and Caroline had a feeling she had found the one.

"Rough night?" she ventured, as she sat next to Thierry.

Nursing his drink, he replied, "Marcel's work is never done. Always another rule-breaker to be shown the error of his or her ways."

"Oooh, how dark and sinister."

"Not at all, Marcel's word is law. I'm just making sure justice is carried out," Thierry said, as he emptied his glass and called for another.

Caroline saw how drunk he was and decided to go for it. "How does he always know when his rules are broken though? C'mon, let me in on it."

Thierry started to shake his head vigorously. When he stopped, he placed his forefinger on his lips and drunkenly rasped, "Sssshhhhhh, it's a secret."

Caroline broke down in fake laughter, her eyes twinkling as she held her stomach.

"I know it's a secret, T, I know. I 'm just so interested in what you do, your work…"

"Why?" slurred Thierry.

Caroline placed a hand gently on his cheek and caressed it. "Because I want to know everything about you, Thierry. I know we've only known each other a little while but I feel a connection to you."

Thierry grinned and looked away shyly. "Really?"

In lieu of answer, Caroline held his arm and pulled him away from the bar.

"Whe-where are we going?" he slurred.

She looked back at him and smiled seductively. "To get a real drink," she purred.

As Caroline licked the last of a roadside guitarist off her lips, she relished more the thought that she was one step closer to Marcel. After their "drink", Thierry had invited her to spend the day and night with him tomorrow, since she was so interested in him. What she was really interested in was Marcel's affairs, some of which Thierry obviously dealt.

Caroline reached the mansion and went inside. She walked past the living room to the stairs, then stopped. She walked backwards to the living room and looked in. Having done so, she continued on her way, up the stairs and into her room. She got in bed and pulled on the covers. She was tired and even seeing Hayley and her swollen belly curled up on Klaus' sofa watching late night tv was not going to keep her up.


	5. Chapter 5

Hayley awoke ravenously hungry that morning, like every other morning for the past 4 months. Having a little person inside you increased your appetite like by 5, she was learning. Usually, she would message Klaus or Elijah to get her food, as Klaus had expressly forbidden her to leave her room or even look out the door unless she was with him or Elijah or one of them okayed it first. But now she realised that was a ridiculous expectation. Her hormones were probably making her more irritable but she didn't care. She pulled on a robe and made her way to the kitchen.

She was frying a delicious-smelling omelette when she heard a slight 'whoosh' behind her. She turned around and saw that girl from Mystic Falls, Tyler's girlfriend, leaning against a counter staring at her intently. She was so shocked to see her, Hayley couldn't even speak.

Caroline, however, had no such affliction. "What are you doing here?"  
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IT'S BEEN A WHILE, BEKAH. HOW ARE YOU AND YOUR CURRENT HUMAN DISTRACTION?

Days later…

I'M ONLY ANSWERING YOU, NIK, TO TELL YOU NEVER TO CONTACT ME AGAIN.

REALLY? STILL ANGRY OVER THE CURE, DEAR SISTER?

THE CURE, THE MULTIPLE TIMES YOU DAGGERED ME, THE TIME YOU SAVED CAROLINE AND LEFT ME…NEED I GO ON?

WE'RE FAMILY. YOU'RE GOING TO FORGIVE ME AT SOME POINT.

I WOULD TELL YOU NOT TO HOLD YOUR BREATH IF YOU WEREN'T ALREADY DEAD. I'M SURPRISED YOU'RE REACHING OUT TO ME THOUGH…YOU WANT SOMETHING.

MAYBE I JUST WANTED TO HAVE A CONVERSATION WITH MY LITTLE SISTER.

…WHO HATES YOU.

AT LEAST I KNOW YOU HATE ME, AND WHY. THAT, I CAN HANDLE. DEALING WITH SOMEONE WHOSE MOTIVES AND AGENDA ARE A MYSTERY IS SLIGHTLY MORE DIFFICULT.

*SIGH. WHO IS THIS NOW?

CAROLINE. SHE'S CURRENTLY STAYING WITH ME. SHE'S SO DIFFERENT, NOT AT ALL HERSELF AND I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT TO DO ABOUT IT.

OMG SHE'S WITH YOU? MATT TOLD ME SHE LEFT MYSTIC FALLS AFTER HER MOTHER'S FUNERAL WITHOUT A WORD TO ANYONE. THEY'VE BEEN TRYING LIKE MAD TO GET AHOLD OF HER EVER SINCE.

LIZ FORBES DIED? ARE YOU SURE?

YEAH. SILAS KILLED HER. MATT WANTED TO GO BACK FOR THE FUNERAL BUT WE THERE WAS A STORM IN MIAMI AND WE COULDN'T GET A FLIGHT OUT.

I THINK I JUST FIGURED OUT WHAT'S WRONG WITH HER. THANK YOU, BEKAH. AS USUAL. YOU GIVE ME CLARITY.

YOU'RE ABSOLUTELY NOT WELCOME. CONSIDER THIS OUR LAST COMMUNICATION. GOODBYE, NIKLAUS.  
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Caroline ground her hips against Thierry's, taking his bottom lip between two of hers, sucking and nibbling teasingly. One of his hands squeezed her ass while the other fisted in her hair, pulling her closer to him. She groaned in false pleasure, accidentally biting down a little too hard on Thierry's lip and drawing blood. She pulled back and pulled off her shirt, exposing creamy breasts that Thierry immediately buried his head in. The drop of blood she elicited from him brought back the day's activities in flashes.

The witch who dared use magic to cure a stab victim who otherwise would have died…

She arched her back as Thierry laved her nipple with his tongue, remembering the fiery ecstasy this action usually sent throughout her body. Her other nipple was teased into pert hardness by Thierry's thumb and forefinger.

The man who had been making and selling stakes…

She felt him unbuttoning his pants and dropped to her knees before he could do anything else. With vamp speed, she reached into his boxers, pulled out his cock and sucked on his head. She licked around the head like a lollipop, then took more of him into her mouth. She could hear his groans of pleasure above her as she bobbed and hummed on his hardness.

The werewolf who had accidentally gotten stranded in town on the night of a full moon…

When he came into her tight mouth, the warmth of his seed reminded her of the warm blood they had drained from all his victims today. He killed, they fed. To think these people died because they "broke Marcel's rules." Thierry told her he didn't always work alone so if she wanted to hang out one day with the rest of his buds, she was welcome. The activities that followed were to express her…'excitement' at 'becoming a bigger part of his life.' As he zipped back up his pants, he chuckled.

"Beautiful, vivacious and willing to go down. I can honestly say you are the most amazing girl I've ever met."

Caroline giggled and smiled at the sated vampire. "Awww, you're so sweet."

She got to her feet and leaned against his chest, resting a hand on his side. "What if I were to get more amazing?"

Thierry raised an eyebrow but decided to humour her. "And how would you ever get more amazing, babe?"

She licked her lips and made a show of seeming a little nervous as she spoke, "I live with Klaus Mikaelson and I know Marcel wants him out of New Orleans. I can give you information on him no one else can get."

Thierry, all seriousness now, grabbed Caroline's arms and looked right into her eyes. "Are you serious?"

She nodded vigorously. "I can help you and Marcel get rid of him…for good."  
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When Caroline got back to the mansion, she went directly into the living room to fix herself a drink, anything to get the taste of Thierry out of her mouth. As she walked in, she saw Klaus leaning against the mantelpiece with a tumbler of his own in his hand. He turned toward her as she poured herself a glass of bourbon.

"Just so you know, I preferred you with humanity."

Caroline didn't even look up as she finished pouring her bourbon. She took up her glass and slowly walked, sipping it, to the sofa, where she sat and looked squarely at Klaus. She drained her glass with a gulp and sighed, looking at the glass like she was sorry it no longer contained liquor.

"And I preferred you without part-vampire were-spawn but we can't always have what we want."

Klaus' face dropped slightly before he recovered and hid his shock but Caroline had already seen the slip.

She smiled and said, "Klaus dear, you look confused. Let me catch you up on today's festivities. This morning, Hayley told me about you two's little "love-child" and the whole thing with the witches using you to get rid of Marcel, then I went out with Thierry and we ended our evening making the most lovely plans to kill you."

Caroline rose from the sofa, straightened her top and deposited her glass on the table. She looked at Klaus' shocked/confused/horrified face as she walked out of the room.

"Nice talk" were her parting words.


	6. Chapter 6

"No, no," Hayley muttered as Elijah rubbed her swollen, sore feet, "She didn't even touch me. She compelled me to tell her why I was here and then left."  
It usually took more than this to unnerve her but it seemed like pregnancy fried more than your energy levels. Elijah was sitting at the foot of her bed as she lay down. After Klaus told him that Caroline had gotten the news about their baby out of her, he came to see that she was alright. He also knew from Klaus that Ms. Forbes was not…in the best place at the moment.

"Did she seem normal to you?" Elijah asked carefully.

Hayley raised an eyebrow. "Oh yeah, she seemed her normal sweetheart self while she was compelling me," she drawled sarcastically.

She and shook her head but then stopped. "Wait…"

Elijah looked up at her while continuing to knead her feet.

"The last time I saw her, I snapped her neck but she didn't seem angry. Well, it was obvious she would have killed me without a thought but I could tell she really didn't care about me. She just wanted to know what was going on. A normal girl would have at least yelled at me. Her eyes looked so…vacant. Dead. Even for a vampire. That's not the Blondie I remember. I would know her irritating perkiness anywhere and it was non-existent then."

Elijah dropped his gaze to Hayley's feet when she finished speaking.

In measured tones, he said, "Niklaus informed me that Ms. Forbes has turned her emotions off. A response to her mother's death apparently. He doesn't even fully trust her but is allowing to live here."

Elijah stopped rubbing Hayley's feet and scooted up on the bed so he could rest a hand on her arm. He looked into her eyes.

"I tell you this only so you know to be careful. A vampire who has turned off their humanity is a danger because they have no weakness. They care for nothing."  
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A drop of blood ran down Caroline's chin and was caught by Thierry's tongue. She giggled and dropped the waitress they had just drained. She had been holding the girl by the neck as they pulled the last dregs out of her. Her body slithered to the ground and rested next to the body of a teenage boy with similar facial features to hers.

Marcel had ordered Thierry to 'take care' of a witch named Jack LaFlamme in the French Quarter and given him an address. Thierry had ripped out the throat of the boy who answered the door. Caroline had come upstairs to see Thierry cringing on the ground and screaming, blood running from his nose and eyes as a tearful witch stood mumbling above him. She snapped the girl's neck before she even knew Caroline was there.

Turns out Jaq (as in Jaqueline) LaFlamme lived with her little brother who actually hadn't done anything wrong. Caroline didn't care that the boy was dead; more blood for her, but Thierry was sloppy. Way more collateral damage than was necessary.

Thierry kissed and licked his way down to the swell of Caroline's breasts and was in the process of liberating them from her shirt when he mumbled, "So what's this weakness of Klaus' you were talking about?"

Caroline refrained from sighing and shaking her head. He really thought she would be so distracted by the blood and the sex that she wouldn't notice him fishing?

She put on her ditzy persona and giggled, squirming away from him and saying, "Wouldn't it be better to tell you, Marcel and the rest of your guys at the same time?"

Thierry palmed one of her breasts and flicked her nipple with his tongue before replying, "No, it would be better if you told me so I could bring your idea to the guys. They'll take it more seriously coming from me."

She grabbed his face and kissed him with as much passion as she could muster, playfully nipping at his lip before pulling away.

"Well, for now, all you need to know, baby, is that it involves a very special dagger."  
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Klaus had had enough. Enough of the coyness. Enough of the mystery. Enough of this emotionless person that used to be Caroline.

He grabbed her arm and zipped them over to the fireplace, simultaneously changing their position so that he was holding both of her wrists behind her back and one hand was grasping the back of her neck. Once there, he forced her to her knees facing the fire, he pushed her face into the fireplace until it was a hair's breadth from the leaping flames. She struggled against him but she could barely move; it was like resisting stone.

"Let's try this again," breathed the Original Hybrid, "About these plans to kill me, love…"

Caroline was loathe to even open her mouth so close to the flames that could end her not-life but she knew Klaus would kill her if she didn't.

"Do you really think I would tell you I was gonna kill you IF I ACTUALLY WANTED TO KILL YOU?! I need an in for Marcel's inner circle and this is the best way. 'The enemy of my enemy is my friend.'"

Klaus was silent but didn't relax his grip on her neck. "How do I know you're not lying?" he snarled.

"I've been hanging out with Thierry to see if I could get closer to Marcel but it's been slow going. I told him I live with you and that I could be his little inside agent. I'm gonna 'help him get rid of you' to earn his and Marcel's trust.

"And exactly how far will my demise progress before you show your 'true' allegiance?"

"…Haven't thought that far yet."

Klaus stifled a laugh. He should not be laughing about his own death but her lack of forethought was hilarious, especially knowing with whom she was dealing. He released her. If she really wanted to kill him, she would have had a much better answer to his question.

Caroline got up off the floor, rubbing her bruised-but-healing neck. "I know how you're gonna die though."

Klaus dropped into a chair. "Do tell."

Caroline unbuttoned her jacket and took it off, laying it meticulously over one arm. "I think having them dagger you is the best option."

"Come on, Caroline, you know a vampire cannot wield the dagger and live."

Without warning, she flashed that megawatt, sunny smile he had fallen in love with. Klaus could almost forget she was an emotionless bitch when she smiled like that. But then he looked at her cold, dark eyes. And he knew that wasn't his Caroline's smile.

"Oh dear, I forgot to mention that to him." she said, chuckling.  
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As Thierry gyrated on top of her, Caroline heard a wail from outside. A baby crying. The cry had pulled her away from her memories of yesterday.

A baby. Hayley. Hayley was pregnant. For Klaus. Klaus. She pushed the thoughts away and flipped herself over so that she was riding Thierry. She focused on the swing of her hips and the rhythm of his strokes. Mirroring his guttural groans of pleasure and look of ecstasy took all of her concentration. She made sure it did. She didn't want to think about anything else.

Because for that second, when she heard the child's cry, she didn't want the child to cry. No child should have to cry like that. For that second, Caroline Forbes felt sad.


	7. Chapter 7

Despite what people thought, Klaus Mikaelson had no trouble sleeping at night. Dreamless sleep, however, was harder to come by. These dreams were usually related to whatever problems he had at the moment. Throughout his time as a vampire, Klaus had dreams about his family being together and at peace, of having a perfect army of hybrids and of Caroline being at his side. He also had nightmares about Mikael staking them and seeing his siblings' bodies burn, nightmares recalling that night when he had been forced to kill 12 of his own hybrids and nightmares of Caroline walking away from him again and again.

Since coming to New Orleans, his dreams had changed significantly. Now they were but colours drifting in and out of his consciousness, crashing against and into each other. Klaus couldn't understand it. And what Klaus couldn't understand, he couldn't control and therefore wanted to nothing to do with. That was how Caroline crossed his mind.

He had just awoken from another of his strange colour-dreams and was loathe to drift off again in case he had another. With his vampire-hearing he heard as Caroline shifted in bed. The even nature of her breathing told him she was most likely asleep. Klaus closed his eyes and stretched his mental muscles as he cast his consciousness into the room beside his own.

By now, Klaus should have expected this but it still caught him off guard. Caroline's sleeping consciousness was the equivalent of an English moor in fall: a grey, dreary expanse. When Klaus thought of Caroline, he thought of light and energy and life. But that Caroline was gone, and this one had no use for light and energy. She appreciated the life of humans only because it nourished her own.

Klaus flexed his mental abilities again and found himself in the drawing room of his mansion back in Mystic Falls. He walked over to a canvas lying face down on the floor and picked it up. He was evaluating his sketch of birds in flight when a voice behind him spoke.

"Why are you in my head, Klaus?"

He spun around to see Caroline leaning against the doorpost, peering at him.

He smirked before he replied, "Insomnia, love. Besides, it's not as if you have something to hide from me…"

Caroline walked into the room, pulled a wooden stool from behind a covered easel and sat down.

"Since you're here," she said, "We might as well discuss a few things."

"And here I thought we had discussed everything of relevance in our nice 'fireside' chat."

"And that right there," she said, wagging a finger at him, "Is why everyone thinks you're an asshole. But moving on…what have you done about Katherine?"

Klaus put down the canvas in his hands and picked up another to study. "I know you haven't noticed but I do have other things to worry about, like wresting an entire city from my progeny and a child on the way that wasn't supposed to exist."

Caroline rose from her seat and made her way toward him unhurriedly. "Well, the kid is your problem but I think having an army of vampire-werewolf hybrids loyal to you alone might, just might, help get you the crown for New Orleans."

Klaus looked up from the painting in his hands. "Go on."

"Marcel has the witches in one hand, the humans in the other and the vampire population is completely behind him. If this comes down to a pissing contest, you need an edge. You need what Klaus Mikaelson does best: brute force and unrelenting violence."

By now, Caroline was right in front of Klaus, her eyes boring into his. She placed on hand on his arm, the other on his cheek and stroked gently. Her tone had softened significantly when she spoke again.

"Let me go to Mystic Falls and deal with Katherine. I'll come back with blood to make your hybrids. I promise."

Klaus grabbed and stilled the hand she lay on his cheek. He would not let this glimpse into his fantasies derail him.

"How do I know this isn't just an excuse to liaise with the gang back home in your latest plot to take me down?"

Caroline took the hand from his arm and rested it on his neck, caressing the spot she knew his strongest vein ran. She leaned in to whisper in his ear.

"Trust me."

Silence.

"Or compel me to do exactly as I said I would. I'm not on vervain. The choice is yours."

Klaus struggled a little to remain completely detached and unresponsive with Caroline being so close and her ministrations feeling so relaxing. As usual, he felt ill at ease trusting this shell of Caroline devoid of a conscience but something told him to give her an inch here and see if she took a mile.

"Go," he spat eventually.

She curtseyed mockingly and said sweetly, "Thank you, Lord Niklaus. Oh, and one more thing, while I'm gone you need to plan a party."

Klaus' expression turned to one of confusion. "Why, might I ask?"

Caroline raised an eyebrow, "Apart from it being a chance to show your magnificent, benevolent self to the vampire population of New Orleans, it'll be a chance for all the key players to feel each other out. In situations like this, there's always a party or a meeting or something to get everyone in the same place and that's where all the important stuff happens. Like seriously? Have you never seen True Blood?"

Ignoring the niggling pain in his temple from attempting to comprehend a pop culture reference, he humoured her, "And what kind of party do you suggest? A dinner party…an elegant ball…or a rave?"

Caroline ignored his sarcasm. "This party has to be classy enough to attract the Daywalkers and the witches but have a naughty edge to pull the Nightwalkers and an element of anonymity to protect the witches, generally entice everyone else and to obscure the main attraction of the evening, which will consist those two things that vampires love above all else."

Klaus broke into a half-smile despite himself. "Fucking and feeding."

Caroline smiled. "I think you know what kind of party fits that bill."

Klaus turned away from her and placed the painting back on the floor where he found it.

"I never said I would do it."

Caroline sighed and shrugged. "Do it, don't do it, whatever. It's for you, not me."

Klaus groaned. "I should have stayed in my own head. This has been exhausting, as usual."

Klaus made to turn back around and found himself met by a pair of lips as he did. Soft, warm lips doing things that made him melt inside. She parted his lips with her tongue and soon it was wrestling for dominance with his own. Her hand went into his light brown curls, pulling him down and closer to her. Her other hand wrapped around his waist, as did her leg, crushing him to her like they couldn't get close enough. He grasped her cheek and hip as he returned her kiss with twice as much force. He kissed his way down to her neck, where he generously tended to her pulse point. She groaned as the slow burn of ecstasy erupted from that place on her neck. Her groan turned to a gasp when his fangs broke the skin and pierced her vein. As he drank from her in long, slow draughts, she finally understood how some humans found it pleasurable to be fed from. Her life force flowing from her into him gave her pleasure beyond words. She would have crumpled to the floor had he not been holding her.

"Klaus…"she moaned.

That moan, despite being aphrodisiac music to Klaus' ears, brought him back to himself. This wasn't real. If this were real, Caroline wouldn't enjoy him biting her because his bite was poisonous. This was a dream. This wasn't real the same way that this Caroline wasn't real.

Klaus pulled back in his fangs and moved away from her, leaving her panting with blood running down her neck and soaking into her collar. He took on the most solemn expression he could.

"Good night, Caroline," he said.

"You don't have to pretend, you know," she sneered.

"Pretend what?"

"That you automatically stopped wanting me just because my emotions are off. We both know it isn't true."

After a pregnant pause, Klaus repeated, "Good night, Caroline." He returned to his own consciousness.

The next morning, Klaus realised Caroline had gone, taking some of her things with her. Took the first flight I could back to Mystic Falls, a note stuck to her mirror read.

Klaus knew all he could do now was wait. He went downstairs and began making calls. He had a Roman masquerade party to plan.


	8. Chapter 8

"Have you talked to him since he got back?" Bonnie asked Matt as he set down her and Elena's drinks.

"Not much," he replied, "He told me a little about where he's been, what he's been doing but that was it."

"He was obviously doing something..." Elena murmured as she sipped her Coke.

As Matt returned to the bar, Bonnie and Elena again levelled their eyes at the hybrid sitting there conversing animatedly with a pretty brunette. Tyler Lockwood had blown back into town a few weeks ago, with the brown-haired girl on his arm.

"As much as I miss her, I'm almost glad Care isn't here to see this," Bonnie said, "Wolf?"

"Oh, definitely," chuckled Elena, "I can smell her from here."

As if on cue, the door to the Mystic Grill then swung open to admit the daily lunch mob. From across the room, Damon Salvatore caught a glimpse of golden hair among the hungry masses that looked familiar. Upon focusing his vampire sight, he tapped his brother, who was lining up a pool shot, on the shoulder. When he straightened up, Damon was smirking.

"Stefan, you gotta see this," he said almost giddily, "Barbie is about to beat Ken's ass."  
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The last thing Klaus expected or wanted to see first thing in the morning was his brother all over the werewolf carrying his child.

But there it was.

Okay, maybe all over was an exaggeration but still. It wasn't a pleasant sight. Klaus was about to step into his kitchen for a morning blood bag when he saw Elijah holding Hayley to him and kissing her tenderly. One of Elijah's hands was on her back, drawing her in, while the other rested on her cheek. They immediately broke apart when Klaus entered the room. Hayley scurried off, looking abashed, leaving Elijah to feel the lash of Klaus' tongue.

"Can you never pursue a woman I haven't, brother?"

"Niklaus," said Elijah, softly, a warning tone in his voice.

"The youngsters of this time, I believe, would call her my…'sloppy seconds.'

Klaus didn't even have time to laugh at his own joke as Elijah rushed him and slammed him against the wall. This was a ferocity Klaus hadn't seen in his big brother for centuries. Elijah was always ever the cool, calm, collected one. Klaus realised with a sinking feeling that the werewolf had gotten under his skin.

"DO NOT speak of her in that way!" Elijah growled at him.

After that, Elijah seemed to realise his angry outburst and let go of his brother.

Stepping back, he said tiredly, "She is carrying your child, Niklaus. If for no other reason than that, she deserves some respect."

"It looks like you're giving her enough respect for the both of us…" Klaus retorted.

Elijah hung his head and closed his eyes, breathing deeply. After a minute or so, he looked up at Klaus. His face the impassive mask it ever is, he speaks in a calm tone.

"Niklaus, we both know that the reason you have so much anger toward the girl is not so much for anything she has done as it is your reaction to fear."

Klaus guffawed. "I am the Original Hybrid. Nothing scares me."

"You fear what you do not understand and what you cannot control. You could not control this pregnancy, you can barely understand it and chances are, it will only become more complicated in the coming months. You know this."

Klaus' facial expression had turned to one of annoyance before he turned away from Elijah and went to the fridge. Elijah continued.

"You are always so busy being the terrible Original Hybrid that you tend to forget that you are also a man, Niklaus. And right now, you need to be a man and take care of your responsibilities. The child in Hayley's belly is yours. You need to start acting like it."

Klaus slammed the fridge door shut and whirled on Elijah. "So I'm supposed to be loving and supportive and fawn all over her just because she's pregnant. I never had feelings for her. I never wanted-"

"No, you are supposed to take care of her because she is carrying your child. You are supposed to find a way to talk to her because you two are going to become parents," Elijah cut him off.

As his brother left, no doubt to find Hayley, Klaus' phone chirped. He pulled it from his pocket to check it.  
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Caroline scanned the bar through the throng. She saw Elena and Bonnie sitting at a table together, having a drink. She saw Damon and Stefan playing pool. She saw Matt behind the bar working. Looks like everything was exactly as she had left it.

Then she saw Tyler at the bar with the new girl. Well, that's new, she thought. A ghost of a smile tugged at her lips as she remembered how she would have reacted to the sight before she abandoned her emotions. Her jaw would have probably dropped, followed by the forced cheery smile, to bely the aching hole that would have opened in her heart. She would have made some lame excuse to go home and cry herself a river, accompanied by her best friends, Rocky Road and Gone With The Wind.

Now, she felt nothing but mild curiosity about who the girl was. On her trip down, Caroline had wondered how to play it with her friends. The truth was out of the question. None of them had forgiven Klaus for his past transgressions and they certainly wouldn't be pleased she had turned her humanity off. She briskly made her way over to Bonnie and Elena's table, pasting her old, sunny smile on.

"Bon! Elena!" she cried happily.

"Oh my God, Care? You're back!" Elena said as she and Bonnie got up and wrapped Caroline in a group hug.

Even when they pulled out of the hug, they kept their hands around her waist.

Bonnie spoke first. "We were so worried. You weren't returning any of our messages or calls and we didn't know where you were or what you were doing or how you were…"

Caroline looked at her two friends, then looked at the floor, a sadness crossing her face. She answered solemnly.

"I just had to get away, you know," she said, sniffling a little, "It was so hard after my mom died. I kind of had to leave it to get past it."

The girls were silent for a while, then Elena tucked a flyaway piece of hair behind Caroline's ear tenderly.

"If anyone knows how tempting it is to run away after losing a parent, it's me. We just wish we could have been there for you."

Caroline grasped both girls' hands in her own, squeezing, and said, "You were."

Bonnie, wanting to bring some lightness to the conversation, interjected, "So what have you been up to since you left?"

Caroline realised they had fallen for it and relaxed. "Nothing exciting really. I was really just bouncing from town to town. I wanna know what's been happening here."

She looked over at Tyler and nodded her head in his direction. "You could start with that."

Bonnie and Elena squirmed uncomfortably. "We haven't spoken to him since he got back," said Elena.

"-but he's been around town with her ever since. We're sorry, Care-" apologised Bonnie.

Caroline cut her off. "No, don't apologise. If anyone owes me an explanation, it's Tyler."

She broke away from them and began to make her way to the bar. She had just taken out her phone when Bonnie pulled her back.

"Do you really think this is the best way to do this?" Elena asked uncomfortably.

"Relax," said Caroline, smoothly, "I'm just going to say hello."

With that, she turned around and resumed her walk to the bar. As she walked, she quickly sent a text message.

I NEED YOU TO SEND ME SOMETHING ASAP, BABE. DON'T QUESTION IT, JUST TRUST ME…

END OF CHAPTER


	9. Chapter 9

The look on Tyler's face when he turned around to see who had touched him was many things: shocked and embarrassed mostly but there was also relief. That one had Caroline confused until she realised that her friends had probably told him about her little escape act after her mom's funeral. Tyler was a lot of things but he had never been completely insensitive to her feelings.

"Hey," she said, with a little smile, "Can we talk for a minute?"

Tyler looked at her, then at his friends, then down at the bar. The brunette didn't look to happy about her intrusion and said nothing, but took Tyler's hand. At that, Tyler looked up at her.

"Give me a minute, Sienna, okay?" he asked as he got up from the bar, dropping her hand.

He nodded toward the door and he made his way outside with Caroline. Once in the open air, Caroline crossed the road and sat down on a bench in the town square, Tyler not far behind. As soon as he sat down, she started to speak.

"Look," she said calmly, "Right now, I should raging at you for getting a new girlfriend. Klaus stopped hunting you and you could have come home, my mom died and you should have come home. I needed you, Tyler…"

Just then, her voice broke and a tear ran down her cheek. Tyler eased closer and tried to take her hand but she raised it in a silent 'no.'

She continued, "But that is the past. It's obvious you have moved on and I need to do the same. My mom's death showed me that life is too short to hold grudges and be anything but happy."

At that, she looked up at him and tried a little smile through her tears. Although pleased that Caroline was taking a calmer approach to his relationship status, something felt off. This wasn't Caroline. His Caroline was a kind, loveable neurotic, control freak who would not have taken this that well. If she had screamed or threw something at him, this would feel more normal. He was in such a puzzled state that he didn't even say anything.

"Umm I guess you don't have anything to say," she said, laughing, "If you ever do, you know where I live."

She patted his hand, then walked away, across the street and around the Mystic Grill. After she left, Tyler remained on the bench for a while, trying to let the breeze clear his head. Realising it was useless, he shook himself and got up to make his way back to the bar and back to his girl. As he went into the Grill's front door, he just missed the girl who had come out of the side exit and was now walking across the street to the town square.

But Caroline didn't. She had gone around the side of the Grill and stayed there until Tyler left. Her eyes followed the girl until she was out of even Caroline's vampire sight. Tyler's silence was a bit worrying. She could tell he wasn't completely taken by her "new" attitude. She would have to deal with that. She sighed in annoyance. This is what happens when you plan as you go along, she mused. Then she went back inside to her friends. God knows she had neglected Stefan long enough.

Two days later…

They had decided to have an official 'Welcome back, Caroline' party and Caroline had twisted Stefan's arm to let them have it at the Salvatore boarding house. It was small, just Bonnie, Elena, Stefan, Matt and Damon, who Caroline personally did not invite. The numbers, however, did not stop the hype. The music was pounding and the alcohol was flowing. The boys were leaning against the wall, sipping beer and looking cool while the girls were giggling and dancing up a storm. Caroline remembered when being like this with these people would have made her so happy, now it was just a means to an end.

She "tripped" and spilled a drink down her dress. Laughing like a drunk idiot, she told the girls she was going to the bathroom to clean herself up. She walked to the bathroom in an unbalanced, wobbly fashion, then looked back. No one was looking at her. She straightened up and vamp-ran up the stairs.

Caroline walked past Damon's room, to the room next to Stefan's, and gently opened the door. She smiled when the girl on the bed inside looked at her with a mixture of shock, confusion and fear.

"Hello, Katherine," she said, before she jumped on the bed and held the girl by the throat.

She knew Katherine would be living with Damon and Stefan. They were the only two she had a chance in hell of convincing she was worth not abandoning to all the vampires she had pissed off over the centuries. As for the room, (a) Stefan was the one most likely to be sympathetic to…well anything pertaining to her generally and (b) Damon's room was also Elena's room and she doubted the doppelgangers had become bffs.

As a human, Katherine's struggles against her Caroline barely felt. With Caroline's hand semi-crushing her windpipe, she couldn't scream as Caroline pulled a syringe out of her clutch purse and plunged it into her arm. Her eyes widened though, as a grimace crossed her face. This would have been so much easier with compulsion, she thought, but chances were that Katherine was full of vervain.

The syringe filled up with Katherine's blood, Caroline pulled it out of her arm, capped it and returned it to her purse. That accomplished, Caroline whipped her free hand back across Katherine's face with the force of a raging bull. Caroline was confident the loud music had completely blocked the sound of the blow. The girl immediately went unconscious.

"That was for killing me," she murmured, as she rolled Katherine in her bedsheet like a giant sausage. She lifted her off the bed, shoved her underneath it and arranged the remaining bed covers so that she wouldn't be instantly visible under the bed upon entry to the room. Then she left.

Caroline knew Katherine wouldn't stay knocked out forever. She had to leave. Now. She could not be here when Ms. Pierce started to sing like a canary. On her way down the stairs, she saw Tyler greet Matt. She pulled back behind the turn on the stairwell but focused on their voices.

"…didn't know you and Care were cool…"

"…not gonna stay…Sienna outside…"

"….sure that…is wise?"

"….wanted…to say hello…Care…tell her…everything's alright…I'll always…care about her…"

Adjusting her escape plan, Caroline vamp-zipped to the kitchen and grabbed two beers. She had received her package that morning and now emptied its contents into one of the beers. Fixing her drunken smile and inebriated walk, she wobbled outside.

She saw Sienna leaning against Tyler's car and fidgeting impatiently.

She yelled, "Hey!" in an overly friendly manner and walked over as best she could. The girl looked at her suspiciously but didn't move away.

"What're you doing outside?" Caroline slurred, "The party's INside."

Sienna shook her head politely and said, "I'm just waiting for Ty."

Caroline gave an exaggerated sigh and hung her head. "Okay, I know your Tyler's girlfriend and I'm his ex and it's gonna be awkward but we can move past that. And what better way than a party?"

She finished with a hopeful smile. Sienna said nothing and retained her suspicious look.

"Okaaaaaayyyyy," drawled Caroline, "No party then. But at least have a beer."

She held the bottle to the girl, who took it hesitantly. She raised her bottle before pressing it to her lips.

"To moving past it," she said before taking a gulp of beer.

Sienna eventually followed suit, drinking mouthfuls before she lowered the bottle.

"Awesome!" Caroline crowed and absentindedly put her beer on top of Tyler's car. Sienna laughed at that.

A laugh that was cut off when Caroline snapped her neck. One hand on top the head, the other under the chin, a strong twist and the wolf was dead. Caroline put the body in her trunk and looked around to make sure no one had followed her. She scribbled a note and left it on Tyler's window before she climbed into her car and screeched away from the loud part.

"Tell her pack to come to New Orleans if they want to claim what's left of the body."


	10. Chapter 10

Tyler walked up to the Salvatore boarding house like the weight of the world was on his shoulders. He couldn't get the look of the pack's faces out of his mind. He sighed. To think that just a few days ago, his life had been normal…well, as normal as a hybrid's life could be anyway. He had found a pack that accepted him, a girl that adored him, it had seems like his life was finally coming down from the roller coaster it usually was.

Then Caroline had come back into town.

To say that it had been awkward was the understatement of the year but she was so calm about his having moved on…he should have known it was too good to be true. Caroline could be calm about many things; an ex was not one of them.

He still couldn't believe his Care would…

He mentally shook himself before pushing open the door and walking inside.

Hearing footsteps, Stefan looked up from his bourbon. He saw Tyler's tired visage and knew the news wasn't good.

"I take it you told them," he said.

"You don't not tell your pack members when your vampire ex-girlfriend kills another pack member."

"Werewolves are renowned for their emotional stability."

Tyler shot Stefan a look before taking the seat opposite his and replying, "They're out for blood. Just like I said they would be. They saw the note…they're packing up right now. New Orleans is about to face a wolf invasion."

"Didn't you tell them Caroline was our problem? We have to fix this. Anyone else would only make it worse."

"Make what worse, Stefan? We don't even know what's going on. Care's always been neurotic but to kill my girlfriend is a bit much even for her. I think something else is going on here. I think…I think someone else is pulling her strings."

Stefan raised a hand to Tyler, "Whoa, wait a minute. Why are you so quick to blame Caroline for this? Because Katherine said she attacked her? Newsflash, Katherine lies. Because the note was in her handwriting? People can mimick writing styles. Because she's nowhere to be found? Maybe she's a victim in all of this too. All I know for sure is that Caroline has only ever been a good friend to me, to you, to all of us. She deserves the benefit of the doubt this once."

Stefan's speech silenced Tyler for a while. The room hung thick with tension as they both mulled the situation over.

Finally, Tyler muttered, "I have to go with my gut. And right now my gut is saying that Caroline did this. It's also saying that stuff is working on her that we don't know about. My guess is that that 'stuff' might be the Original Hybrid."

Stefan cast his eyes downward. "You think Klaus compelled her?"

"I don't know what he did but I know he's involved. It's too much of a coincidence that the note directed the pack to New Orleans."

Tyler rose from his seat and wiped a hand down his face. "Look man, I just came to give a heads-up. I'm going with the pack to New Orleans so you won't be seeing me for a while."

"Actually, you might be seeing us sooner than you think."

A confused look flickered across Tyler's face.

"You really thought none of us was gonna want to find out what's going on with Caroline? And New Orleans is the best clue to her whereabouts so far so I'm definitely heading down there to look for her."

Tyler's face went slack and he groaned, "Great. One more member of the Mystic Falls gang in NOLA."  
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Klaus had once said that his love of painting stemmed from it being the medium through which he had learned that he could bring his wishes into actuality by simply having the requisite will. That wasn't the whole truth. It also brought him peace, calmed him down in his many moments of anger. Seeing a blank canvas be transformed into a palate of beauty before his eyes never stopped filling him with wonder and happiness. He was in such a tranquil state when his reverie was broken by loud thumps downstairs

Elijah never made that kind of noise and if Hayley was thumping around in her state, he should probably pretend to care about her and go check. He got up from his easel and walked down the staircase. The clink of ice in a glass turned his attention to the living room. What he saw made him want to zip back upstairs to the sanctuary of his studio.

Caroline was fixing herself a drink. Obviously she was back from her trip. On the ground by the sofa lay a crumpled brunette, who smelled strongly of vervain and wolfsbane. Klaus thought she was dead until he heard the slow, dull thump of a vampiric heartbeat from her body. The thumps he had heard must have been Caroline dragging her into the house, he realised as his temples began to thrum.

Just then, Caroline took a sip of her gin and tonic and turned around.

"Klaus! Darling!" she said exuberantly as she bounced over to give him a bear hug and a kiss on both cheeks.

He raised an eyebrow at this newfound sunny attitude. On seeing his reaction, Caroline's face fell back to its blank expression.

"That is how I had to act in Mystic Falls. It's so tiresome pretending to care-"

"CAROLINE!" Klaus snapped and cut her off, "Explain the unconscious person on my floor or so help me…"

Caroline pursed her lips and sat down on the sofa right by the girl.

"It's quite simple really. I brought you a gift so when I told you the bad news it would sting a little less."

Klaus sagged down into the chair next to her rubbing his temples, "So where is this gift?"

Caroline pointed to the girl. "Her name is Sienna and she's all yours. Hybrid and all so you won't have to compel her. Sire-bonded. I spiked her beer with the blood you sent me and then fed her Katherine's blood in transition. Had to keep her knocked out with vervain and wolfsbane all the way here."

Here Caroline took another sip of her drink. Klaus brightened a bit.

"So you got Katherine's blood?"

Caroline swallowed and replied slowly, "That's the thing. I was only able to take enough to turn Sienna. She's on vervain and the Salvatores are all over her. I could barely get alone with her to take the little blood I could."

She saw Klaus's face drop and continued, "Don't worry though. She's on her way here so you can drain her yourself to your heart's content."

"…And how exactly did you persuade her to come to New Orleans? The Salvatores won't let her come within a thousand miles of me, you know that."

Caroline cocked her head to one side. "That was actually the easiest part. Oh yeah. A pack of werewolves is on its way here too, more than likely wanting to kill me so…there's also that…"

Klaus fisted his hands tightly and took numerous deep breaths. Dealing with emotionless Caroline took the patience of Job. Having actually met Job, Klaus knew the Bible didn't give him enough credit.

"Please…please enlighten me as to why…" he groaned.

Motioning to Sienna, Caroline said, "They think I killed her and I told them to come get her body. I only did it to get a pack here for you to turn into hybrids with Katherine's blood."

Klaus lost it. "BUT I DON'T HAVE KATHERINE'S BLOOD!" he raged.

Caroline fixed him with a pitying look. "However did you get such a fearsome reputation? You have no vision, Klaus, I swear…"

Just then Sienna stirred and muttered in her sleep.

"Uh-oh," sing-songed Caroline, "Looks like sire duties are about to begin. That's my cue to leave."

She got up and made for the stairs leaving Klaus staring after her in disbelief.

"Oh, I just realised," she said as she stopped and turned around, "Everyone should be in town just in time for the big party."

She flashed Klaus a bright smile.  
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So caught up were Stefan and Tyler in their conversation that neither of them heard the creaking of the stairs or the human heartbeat of the person eavesdropping on their conversation. As Tyler left, Katherine uncrumpled the note in her hand and read it for the 50th time.

'I know you definitely know that absence really doesn't make the heart grow fonder but just to hammer home that point, I just thought you should know that Elijah's got a new girlfriend. A werewolf, no less. Guess a werewolf was still more palatable than you as a human. Wait…that means that the only thing you had going for you was the vampirism. That must hurt. Especially now you actually have to deal with human emotions all the time. Even I was shocked at how quickly he forgot you though. Just saying.

Girl to girl,

Caroline'


	11. Chapter 11

Caroline can hear someone screaming. The scream is terrible…heart-wrenching, agonising. She wants to rip the person's throat out just to shut them up. This person is screaming like they're watching everything they love, burn. But there's no one up there but them three.

The screaming, burning vampire and Klaus, falling to the floor with a dagger in his back.

That's when Caroline realises who is screaming. It's her. Her humanity is screaming at her from that place in her psyche she had banished it to. It's tearing at her, trying to rip away that blank persona she now shrouds herself in. It's torn away enough for her to feel fear.

Fear that it comes back. Caroline closes her eyes, takes a deep breath and viciously culls the emotions churning inside her. They will not control her.

She considers whether to un-dagger Klaus at that moment or not. She knows he'll be raging when he finds out the turns the night took and she really doesn't want to deal with his temper right now.

But she also knows that Klaus is her only true ally, no matter how furious he might be. With a sigh, she moves forward to pull the dagger from the Original Hybrid's back.

A couple hours earlier…

The grapevines wrap around the staircase and the white pillars like passionate lovers. The smell of grapes in the air adds a sweetness to the air that merely sets off the decadence of the atmosphere. The black curtains interspersed between the pillars whispered of mystery while the topless females strolling through them with trays of wine-filled goblets screamed 'come get it.'

The room is filled with women dressed in the flowing but sexy dresses of Grecian times, their tresses either hanging like rope down their backs or bound around their heads like crowns. The men go the "less is more" route, wearing only cloth wrapped around their waists and laurel wreaths for head dress. They all wear masks.

It is the night of Klaus' party and it has just kicked into full swing. Even now, he can see a few vampires feeding from the waitresses in the shadowy shade of the curtains. He has no doubt that, by the end of the night, they will be fucking them as well.

The mask does not impair his vampire sight but he is having a hard time finding Caroline. Swearing to himself, he swings around and cranes his neck to try to see her.

"Looking for someone?"

He turns around and there she is. Her mask, like his is half-white, half-black but the eyeholes of hers are accented by silver glitter and rhinestones shine from the edges of the mask. He can' help but notice how her eyes shine, how she seems to shine even in the dim lighting. The dress she is wearing is the exact same shade of blue as her eyes. It flutters around her legs, giving the impression that she is floating. Her golden hair is curled into ringlets that fall tantalisingly around her face and down her back.

At that moment, to Klaus, she has never looked more beautiful. Until she removes her mask.

"I know you're freaking out right now," she says with a calm smile, "but you need to smile. We're at a party. If you look too serious, people will wonder what's going on."

Klaus automatically breaks into a bright smile. "What's going on is that I'm going to die tonight, right love?" he says, with an angry edge to his voice.

Caroline scans the room. "If we're lucky."

The guests have just started arriving and Caroline spots Thierry. He would be there early. Probably to scope the place out and report back to Marcel before his royal Highness deigns to make an appearance. She grabs him and pulls him into one of the bedrooms. Before she can get a word out, he pins her to a wall, kissing her deeply, murmuring some gibberish in between kisses about how he missed her and how could she just disappear on him like that and how he's gonna have to punish her later, heh-heh.

Caroline couldn't care less. She extricates himself from her arms and pulls an object wrapped in white satin from the folds of her dress. He looks on intently as she un-wraps the dagger and shows it to him. He reaches out his hand to touch it but she jerks it away.

"This must be thrust into his heart, do you understand? Tell Marcel to aim there only, otherwise he will be wasting time."

Thierry nods, still looking at the dagger. Caroline notices he looks almost hungrily excited about it.

"Klaus will be back on the platform at 8. Tell Marcel he wishes to meet him there and have a drink, toast to the future of New Orleans. That is his opening. The curtain will still be pulled."

With that, Caroline re-wrapped the dagger and gave it to Thierry. He took it and put it in his jacket pocket, pecked her on the cheek and took off. Caroline looked after him and sighed. She hoped the brainless vamp could do this one thing and that she hadn't wasted her time pretending to like him.

"Don't you think it's about bloody time you told me this spectacular plan of yours?" Klaus hissed at her through his smile.

"Time…time…" Caroline muttered distractedly, looking at the watch-charm that hung from her bracelet, "It's 7:25."

Klaus' eyes narrowed quizzically. "So what?"

"So we have 35 minutes to loosen you into your own party…" Caroline said softly as she brushed her lips to his.

Klaus tries to pull away but her grip is firm. So are her breasts. And so is his suddenly bold erection.

She pulls him into the curtains and pushes him against a pillar. "If you're gonna look all serious all night, I need to keep you away from the guests. This way, you aren't MIA and this is as good an excuse as any."

Just then, using his vamp speed, he reverses their positions and somehow ties her to the pillar using the grapevines. Caroline pulls but she really can't get loose. Seeing her distress, Klaus smiles and she sees his eyes flash amber for a second. He pushes her right against the pillar, using his body to trap her. Breathing in her heavenly scent, he cups her cheek with his hand. As he runs his hand up his thigh under her dress, the hand on her face drops to her neck, where it circles her neck. She gasps when he brushes her there.

He runs his finger lightly up and down her entrance, lingering on her clit. He rubs the bundle of nerves, sending frissons of heat emanating though Caroline from that spot. As her breathing becomes laboured, he realises she is now wet and ready for him. With no warning, he reaches under the wrapped cloth he is wearing, guides himself to her entrance and plunges all of himself inside. He uses the hand that was just pleasuring her to cover her mouth, her cry would have brought unwanted attention to them.

He sets a bruising pace, crushing her against the pillar, not allowing her to move. But this is not for her, this is for him. After weeks of her mystery, her mind games and her annoying lack of emotion, this was his revenge. This was him showing her who was boss. For too long, she had thought herself untouchable because of his feelings for her.

It felt like all the frustration about Caroline, about Marcel, about Hayley, the baby, about New Orleans was coming to the surface at this one moment. All he could do was hold Caroline wand ride it out. Her wet heat was all that stood between him and wrathful oblivion. His thrusts grew in force to the point that the pillar began to shake. He was gripping Caroline so hard that had she been human she would have broken.

He could feel himself approaching release, although he held it off as long as he could. When she exploded around him, he gave himself over to ecstasy, biting savagely into her neck to stifle his moan of pleasure. He drank deep. Her blood was sweet and seductive. He didn't want to stop. He only did when he felt her body sag against his.

He had stopped just before he drained her. He stepped away and she slumped to the ground. Klaus did feel a bit guilty that he had taken it so far. He bit his wrist and pushed it to her lips. She would be okay in a while. Then he remembered his meeting. He got up, straightened his costume and put back on his mask. Time to see Marcel.

When Caroline woke up on the ground tied to a pillar, she knew she would normally have been pissed but turning off her humanity plus Klaus' blood invigorating her plus post-coital bliss had her ridiculously zen.

Needless to say, that feeling vanished soon enough. She went to the platform just in time to see Klaus have the dagger thrust through his back into his heart and the vampire wielding this dagger burst into flames.

Thierry screamed like a little girl as the fire engulfed him.

Caroline wasn't even that surprised. He was too hungry for attention and adulation. Of course he would want to kill Klaus himself for Marcel. She watched as the guests collectively cast their eyes to the platform. The curtain was drawn but they could still hear Thierry's dying cries as well as see the light of the inferno through it.

Caroline undaggered Klaus and pulled back the curtain. All of her plan hadn't gone down the drain. The room buzzed as everyone saw Klaus and the burning corpse lying motionless on the ground.

Caroline cast her gaze upon them herself and saw that Klaus was already beginning to stir. She lowered herself to sit down beside him just as Elijah came running up to the platform, a panic in his eyes.

"Hayley is gone!" He said in an alarmed tone she had never heard him use before, "I've searched this entire house and the grounds. She is nowhere to be found!"

As Caroline struggled to assimilate this new information, she felt something touch her hand. It was Klaus. She held his hand and saw his lips move. She put her ear near to his face to hear him.

"turn…on…" He mutters weakly.

Caroline looks at Elijah confusedly, "I think he wants the lights turned on…"

When she looks back to Klaus, his eyes are open and his pupils are dilating.

"turn..your…humanity…back…on…Caroline…"


	12. Chapter 12

Let's backtrack a bit, shall we?

A few hours earlier…

Stefan and Tyler huddled in a dark corner, watching the revelry of the other party guests. In their togas and plain black eye masks, they would easily pass below notice among the party's more colourful attendees.

"So we're clear. You look for Caroline. Text me when you know where she is. I'll keep an eye out for Klaus and keep him away from you."

"For now. I told you I'm gonna make sure he answers to my pack for what he did to Sienna."

"Just help me find Caroline first, ok Tyler? After that what you and Klaus do is your business."

Shooting Stefan a look for the innuendo, Tyler drifted into the crowd. Grabbing a glass of champagne from a passing waiter, Stefan surveyed the room. They had barely gotten into town before they heard about the Original Hybrid's big party. They knew they had to be there. He could smell the humans in attendance. He could also see glimpses beyond the curtained pillars on the other side of the room and knew that there were also vampires in attendance. Stepping between a veil into a world purely of blood and sex…perfect combination of Caroline's party planning genius and Klaus' twisted mind. So humans and vamps…that meant that the "humans" moving warily through the crowd were witches. He could sense their fear. None of them were by themselves, groups of two or more. That was odd. Why would witches come to a vampire party if it was so terrifying?

Stefan saw a staircase and made for it. He would be able to see more of the room with a little height.  
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Tyler almost felt like he was in a dream. The crowd was so thick he could not even move quickly and all around were the colours of the masks and dresses. All rich and deep colours; they didn't grab your attention but once you looked, it was hard to look away. Amidst the steady bodies, a wisp of movement caught Tyler's eye. When he turned he saw the pillars and the curtains. His hybrid hearing picked up the sounds of veins being emptied and the moans of ecstasy and he shook his head. But turning away, he heard a moan that was all too familiar. It was faint but something made him turn back and edge closer to the pleasure area. With a few steps, he pulled one of the curtains back a bit and saw what he was looking for.

Tyler only moved the curtain a bit and let it go almost as quickly. But in that millisecond he saw everything he needed to. Caroline. And Klaus. A pillar. More specifically, Klaus fucking Caroline up against a pillar. Before he even knew what he was doing Tyler was outside. He was outside the Originals' home, panting. Which made no sense because he was a hybrid and he wasn't tired. Tyler breathed deep. He couldn't believe what he has just seen. He literally couldn't . He knew something had been wrong with Caroline but to go so far as to…with him…No, no, no. Caroline couldn't possibly have forgiven him, this man that had put them all through so much.

Tyler looked into the starry sky, as if it would somehow furnish him answers to all the questions swirling in his head. As he did, he realised that there was a light in the window of one of the upstairs bedrooms of the house. It wouldn't have been so noticeable if it hadn't been the only room that was alit. Making sure no one was around, Tyler climbed up the drainpipe and swung into a room with an open window that was on the same floor as the room with the light. The room was dark but Tyler made it to the door and into the hallway. He listened. He could hear one heartbeat, no two, much more strongly than the ones downstairs. He followed the beat to a door with light peeking out from underneath it. He turned the knob. It was open. He pushed the door and stepped into the room.

"Thank God you're back. I didn't think it was possible but my back hurts even mo-"

Just then, Hayley turned around and realised that this wasn't the person she had sent for heating packs.

"Tyler," she breathed.

Tyler himself said not a word as he stared at her protruding belly.  
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Stefan found himself on the stairs for the third time that night, sighing in an annoyed manner. He had covered the floor twice and had looked over the room from the height of the stairs three times and still no sign of Klaus. He was just about to ask Tyler if he had had any luck with Caroline when his attention, like that of everyone else at the party, was turned towards the platform. While there was a veil, they could all see the fire burning beyond. Stefan didn't know what was going on. But then a pretty blonde girl pulls back the curtain to reveal Klaus on the ground, obviously hurt, and a burning corpse a few feet from him.

Then Caroline was kneeling by Klaus, holding him. She leaned down to him. Stefan still didn't know what was going on but he knew that he didn't like the closeness of the moment. It could mean that Klaus' hold on Caroline was moving past compulsion. But then Caroline vamp zipped out of there like a bat out of hell.

Stefan furrowed his brow. They had come to New Orleans to get answers and all they ended up with was more impossible questions.


	13. Chapter 13

Klaus could feel her pulse weakening but he didn't care. He continued to feed, taking long drafts of the girl's blood even as he felt it getting scarce. With one last gulp, he dropped her unceremoniously at his feet, which was exactly where she was when Elijah entered the room. Ignoring his older brother's slight look of annoyance at the body in the living room, he smiled, licking the excess blood of his lips. Elijah narrowed his eyes.

"Enlighten me as to what you have to smile about, brother. Your party was a scene of carnage, your emotionless sidekick had fled and the mother of your child is missing."

His smile somewhat lessened, Klaus replied, "Couldn't even let me enjoy a little post-feeding bliss, could you? Never mind I was daggered last night and need the blood to keep my strength up- "

"I could care less about your strength, Niklaus. I have been searching for Hayley nonstop since last night and I've found nothing, not even a whisper of her whereabouts. I've heard plenty about your soiree, on the other hand. The entire Quarter is abuzz about the impromptu live fire show…"

"And what are they saying?"

"A few know that Marcel was supposed to be up there and think the dagger was meant for him. But most are more interested in the fact that an associate of Marcel's tried to kill you when then entire Quarter thought you two had made peace. They're…looking at Marcel in a different light."

Klaus' smile slowly returned. "The loyalty of his subjects is undermined. I should have known she would go that route."

Elijah raised an eyebrow. " 'She?!"

"Yes. Caroline. She orchestrated the whole thing, the dagger, Thierry, the party…clever girl. By the way, do you know where she went?"

Elijah's entire demeanor changed. Most people wouldn't know the difference but Klaus knew his brother. Right now he was positively apoplectic.

"Hayley is God knows where and you're more concerned about the baby vampire?"

Klaus rolled his eyes. "I have the Hayley situation under control, brother. Caroline, on the other hand is an unknown entity right now. I don't know where she is or what she's doing now that her emotions are back."

"Why ever did you do that? You two seemed to get along while her humanity was absent. Are you so sure that camaraderie will continue?"

Klaus cast his eyes down and pressed his lips together before he spoke. "To be honest I didn't think about that. I should have but in the moment I was in pain from the dagger and she had been playing games for weeks, never letting me know exactly what her plans were…I wanted to get back at her."

"How mature of you."

Elijah was saved from whatever blistering retort Klaus had for him when Sienna entered the room. At the sight of her, Klaus rose from his chair and took a few steps toward the other Original.

"We'll have to continue our sibling bickering later. I have business to take care of."

He walked around Elijah and he and Sienna walked out of the room, both with serious expressions. Then Elijah heard the door slam and knew they had left.  
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The taste of blood…

Caroline slammed into the side of a building.

The snap of bones…

She kept running.

The smell of burning flesh…

She barely felt the cut of the glass as she crashed through something.

The blank look in all of their eyes from compulsion…

Caroline tried to get up off what felt like a floor of broken glass but she fell forward onto something that was hard but moved when she hit it.

The memories of every single person she had fed on, killed and/or compelled since she had flipped her switch were coming back to her in a rush. With those memories, the emotions that should have accompanied them at the time. There was so much hurt and anger and disgust and guilt and sorrow churning in her mind Caroline could barely make out her surroundings. Every time she focused, another memory would come, another emotion would lash through her. She held her head, as if that would somehow return her sanity but it couldn't stave off her inner turmoil. Her hands felt wetness on her face and she vaguely realised that she was crying.

All those people…

I used them…

And abused them…

Because I'm a monster…

Feeling the uncomfortable shape pushing into her back, Caroline turned to swat it away and realised it was a wooden chair. She was in some type of restaurant.

I'm a horrible person…

I shouldn't be alive…

I can't take this…

Caroline slowly pushed her glass-ridden body off the ground, almost slipping on the drops of her own blood that were on the floor. She picked the chair up, held a leg and broke it off. The end that had been attached to the rest of the chair came off jagged. She dropped the broken chair. Chest heaving, she turned the jagged end towards her body, aiming at her heart.

I'm so sorry…

Using all her strength, Caroline drove her makeshift stake towards her heart.  
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"You had better have something I find relevant."

Klaus fixed his newest hybrid with a look that had terrified villages centuries past. She had been responsible for Hayley during the party last night. It was under her watch that the girl had gone missing. Therefore, it was also her responsibility to find her. Klaus actually hadn't seen Sienna since just before the party had started so she must have a good reason for being AWOL.

"Tyler was here. He took her to his pack that's camping out in the bayou. "

Klaus was dumbstruck for a second. "And you just LET THIS HAPPEN?"

"Let me finish-"

" 'Let you finish' " he mocked, "You had one job and you LET the mother of mu child be abducted by a hybrid that HATES me?!"

Rolling her eyes, Sienna said, "Let me lay down for you what happened last night. Tyler found Hayley in her room during your party while I was gone. I got back like just after he found her. He was all confused as to how she was pregnant and why she was at your house but then he realised he didn't care and he just grabbed her, said he was taking her to his pack and he would decide how to deal with her later for some hybrid rebellion betrayal thing and left."

"And pray tell, what were you doing while all this happened?"

"I came into the room, pretended to be scared and confused. I made it seem like I was ecstatic Tyler was there to rescue and I went with them when they left-"

Before she could get another word out, Klaus had lifted her and thrown her up against one of the tombs in the cemetery. He didn't even know why she had brought him here to talk. Just as she had picked herself up, he thrust his hand into her chest and wrapped his fingers around her around. As Sienna's mouth opened in a silent 'O' of pain, Klaus began to squeeze the vital organ.

"Tell me why I shouldn't kill your for your incompetence right now. Or maybe betrayal. But I'm not picky."

Blood pouring from her chest, Sienna managed to say, "Because I need him to think I'm on his side. I need my entire pack to believe that I'm still with them, despite the fact that I'm a hybrid. That's what she told me. And I have to follow through."

Klaus cocked an eyebrow. " 'She'?"

"Caroline. She has a plan. I don't know exactly what it is but it's supposed to happen soon and she told me they have to accept me or it won't work. I couldn't take the chance they would deem me a traitor. Tyler won't harm Hayley, not while she's pregnant. She'll be a prisoner for a couple of days then…Well I don't know yet what Caroline has planned but knowing her…that girl doesn't do anything by half."

Klaus released Sienna's heart and took his hand from her chest. The girl slid to the ground against the cold, grey tomb.

"So you're telling me that getting Hayley back depends of whatever plan Caroline had?"

Sienna, between coughs, replied, "Yes. Wait…what do you mean 'had'?"

Klaus didn't answer the question. "So you know where Hayley is?"

Sienna nodded.

"Show me. After that, your job is to find Caroline and bring her to me. Period."  
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Caroline felt the prick of the wood against her skin. For that millisecond she even felt the drop of blood it drew pool at the point. Then something ripped the wood from her hands. She didn't know what it was but she swung her hand to knock it away automatically

…Only to have her hand caught and restrained by her best friend.

Stefan Salvatore looked deep into her teary, over flowing eyes. "You're not checking out on me today, Forbes."


	14. Chapter 14

Sienna couldn't do anything right. It had been over 48 hours since that party and she had neither managed to rescue Hayley or find Caroline. She hadn't even bothered to go back to the house. Klaus would only rip her a new one for her incompetence.

"You really think this'll ingratiate you with your pack?"

Sienna was jarred from her reverie by Tyler's question. The bumps his car was going over should have done that minutes ago.

"Everyone loves food right?" she replied with a sigh.  
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"SIENNA!" Caroline yelled from the kitchen, pushing all but one of the covered foil containers into the fridge.

Sienna came into the room and leaned against the counter with an irritated "What?"

Klaus has told her to listen to Caroline and since she was sired to Klaus, Sienna felt compelled to do so. But that didn't mean she had to like it. This bitch killed her for God's sake.

Pointing to the lone remaining container on the counter, Caroline said, "See this, there are roughly ten more like it in the fridge. Your pack's gonna breeze through here any day now to avenge you and when they do, you're gonna have yourselves a little wolf cookout."

Sienna glared at the bold-faced vamp. "You expect me to poison my pack for you? They're my family, you crazy-"

"Ugh, your righteousness is giving me a migraine. I'm not sending you to kill your pack. There's no poison in there. They're wolves. Klaus is half-wolf. He needs to make alliances outside the vampire world. And the witch world, come to think of it. Marcel ran the wolves out of here for a reason. If he wants them gone-"

"Klaus needs them here." Sienna finished. The girl was evil but way smarter than the blonde hair would have you think.

"But…seriously? Food?" Sienna said, gesturing to the container. "You think a few steaks will make my pack trust a guy who is not only a known psychopath but also an Original vampire as well as a guy who turned a member of their pack for no reason?"

Picking up the container and putting it into the fridge with the others, Caroline replied, "I think food is a good place to start."

As Sienna turned to walk out, Caroline called out.

"Oh, and Sienna? Make sure everyone eats. Wouldn't want anyone to miss out on Klaus' generosity."  
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"A lot of them still don't totally trust me because of the hybrid thing but I'm still me. I'm still Sienna. I'm still a member of their pack. Hopefully a few steaks and some beer will help them to remember that."

"Little pack bonding, huh?" Tyler replied sarcastically.

Sienna shot Tyler a look so venomous she was sure he felt it even though his eyes were focused on the road. Her feelings for him were…complicated. When they were together before everything, she had been sure she was falling in love with him. Now…try as she might, she couldn't get past the fact that it was his crazy ex that had killed her and turned her into a hybrid. The abrupt stop of the car stopped her internal relationship analysis.

"We're here," Tyler said as he got out of the car.

As Tyler went around the car, Sienna took the opportunity to send a quick text to Klaus. It contained the location of the pack's camp with the added message, "Don't come. Give me some more time."  
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Elijah walked down Bourbon Street for the 100th time. After all this time, he still had seen no indication of Hayley's whereabouts and Niklaus had said not a word about a plan to get her back. Needless to say, he was tense. So when he felt someone grab his arm from behind, he reacted with a smidge more force than was necessary.

Even with her back literally against the wall and Elijah's hand crushing her windpipe, Katherine Pierce still found enough oxygen to say, "Oooh, rough and in public? I like New Orleans Elijah."

Realising who it was, Elijah released her.

"Katherine?" he said with surprise, "What are you doing here?"

Coughing, Katherine replied, "Yes, Elijah. I've been well, thanks for asking."

Elijah just stared at her.

"A little birdy, who I suspect has lost her bird-manity, told me something and since I just felt like seeing NOLA, I decided to confirm it for myself while I was here."

"Katherine, please, I don't have the time for your games today…"

"Is it true?" she said abruptly, looking at him face-on. "That you, after swearing your love to me, abandoned me for the brother who has done nothing but disappoint you for the last 1000 years, to be turned back into a human by my pathetic doppelganger, and then, as if that isn't bad enough, took up with a WEREWOLF?!"

The screech Katherine went into on the last word scratched her already tender throat and she began coughing again. When Elijah automatically reached out to her, she sidestepped him with nary a look. Her fit ended and she continued her diatribe.

"You can't even imagine my glee when I found out that this wolf-girl you've got such a boner for, is the same one that's prego for Klaus." Katherine burst into giggles at this but Elijah knew she wasn't as amused as she was trying to portray.

"So," he began, "You came down here because you were jealous and hurt."

Katherine's giggles died down gradually until all that remained was the derisive smirk that was a permanent feature of her face.

"Being jealous and hurt requires that I actually cared. I'm more like disappointed…slightly."

Glancing past her, Elijah took her shoulders. She looked at his hands warily but thankfully, didn't pull away.

Looking into her eyes, Elijah said, "Katherine, there is most certainly a conversation we need to have but this is not the time and most certainly not the place. There is…an issue I need resolved before I can even think about discussing the state of our relationship. Come."

He grabbed her hand and began walking down the street.

"Wait, where are you taking me?" Katherine asked.

"I can't be worried about whatever trouble you will inevitably find yourself in right now. The best way I can neutralise you is to keep you with me."  
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She was like a porcelain doll. All curly hair and smooth skin. There was no expression on her face. Even the tears that he thought would never stop flowing had dried. She had been laying on that couch staring at the ceiling for over a whole day now. She wouldn't speak, she wouldn't feed. Stefan didn't know what to do.

He didn't even know what was wrong with her. Whatever Klaus did must have been a doozy because this was nothing like Caroline. When everyone couldn't talk anymore, Caroline had the world to say. When no one else could find a reason to get out of bed, Caroline was the one who found something to do. Right now, it was like she wasn't even there. Like the person on the couch wasn't a person at all, just her body, and her spirit had gone.

After hours of trying everything he could think of to get something, anything out of her, Stefan did the one thing he had relegated to the absolute last resort. He stepped onto the balcony of his hotel room and shut the transparent sliding doors, looking in at Caroline the entire time. He couldn't take the chance she would get friendly with a chair leg again.

He called Klaus.

"Ripper, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Spare me, you smug bastard, what did you do to Caroline?"

"I have no idea what-"

"My best friend is currently in a catatonic state and I don't know what's wrong with her. If you ever had any real feelings for her at all, tell me what you did and how I can fix it."

After a period of silence, Klaus replied, "I compelled her humanity back on. I had nothing to do with it being off in the first place. She came to me like that. I guess she's not dealing very well with what she did while her switch was flipped."

"I think 'not dealing very well' is the understatement of the century here."

"Look, why don't you tell me where the two of you are holed up and I'll compel her to forget what she did…"

"I think you've done enough," Stefan replied shortly.

"Don't you take that tone with me, Ripper," Klaus snapped, "The mother of my child is missing and I am losing a war for my own city to my own progeny. You're not the only one with problems."

Shocked at Klaus' outburst, Stefan stuttered a bit before he got his words together enough for a sentence. He turned and held onto the balcony railing, looking down onto the street.

" 'Your child?' How did-"

Klaus sighed. "I thought Tyler would surely have told you lot when he found out."

"Tyler knows? I haven't heard from him since the night of your party."

"You were there? Security must have been sloppy. Yes, well, since he's holding the mother of my child, it's Hayley by the way since we're being all open here, in the south-east edge of the bayou, I'm sure he's been busy."

"Ok, I am now sufficiently confused and disturbed for the day. I don't need anymore insight into your crazy little world, Klaus. I have to figure out how to get my friend back."

With that, Stefan hung up. Running a hand through his hair, he turned and opened the door to go back into the room. The sight of the empty couch stopped him cold.


	15. Chapter 15

I can't see them but the smell of dog is overwhelming. I know I'm close. I move through the woods as quickly and as quietly as possible. After forcing myself through a particularly dense, scratchy bush, I see their camp right in front of me. If I didn't know better I would have thought it was some sort of family camping trip. It was like a village of trailers, trucks and tents. There were even a few Winnebago's. The werewolves walked around, talking, sat around, doing normal stuff; they were way too comfortable. I would bet anything that most, if not all, of them didn't know that werewolves were persona non grata in New Orleans.

I was on a slight incline so I could see that the vehicles were arranged around the tents, which surrounded a large clearing. I had to give it to them. That was smart, circling the stronger vehicles about the more fragile, low-lying tents. It was also stupid, because it gave them little legroom to run. Wolves and their inseparability. It often actually was the death of them.

There was a small concentration of wolves in the very center of the clearing. I focused all my senses on it and to my surprise, I recognised two of the voices.

"…Bet she didn't think she would end up here…slutting around with Klaus Mikaelson…"

"…We should kill her. She is an abomination…"

"…The kid is the problem. Get rid of it…" That sounded like Tyler.

"…We need to think about this. Do we really want to have to deal with Klaus' wrath?" Definitely Sienna.

"…This is bigger than Klaus and his control issues. If Klaus is allowed to use this child' s blood to make hybrids, the balance of the world as we know it will be destroyed…"

That was when I realised the thing in the middle of the clearing must be a cage. And that Hayley was in it. Damn. I would have to literally got through that entire pack to get to her. Okay. Time to get smart. I had to empty the camp.

Like it was that frickin' simple. Think, think. What scares werewolves? Vampires maybe… but I couldn't get the necessary numbers now. Not anymore. Actually…maybe I just needed one…

I took out my cell phone and sent a message.

I know where Hayley is. I can get her out. I need you to distract them so come to the south east end of the bayou. Please trust me. And don't tell HIM. Let Sienna know what you're doing. Tell her to stay and "guard" the cage.

Within the next thirty minutes, I heard the conversation shift.

"…on the way. Wants the girl. Want to talk…" Sienna.

"…We should all go talk to him…show our numbers…that we're not afraid…"

"…might be a trap…suppose there's a strike while we're gone…"

"I'll stay and guard her." Good girl, Sienna.

"So will I." Damn, it, Tyler.

"As will I. A non-hybrid member of this pack should remain here." That person, whoever they are, has a bit of an attitude.

The wolves start to get together and move out for the south east boundary of the bayou. Now all I have to figure out is how to get past Tyler and the wolf guy. Whatever it takes, I have to get past them. I have to get Hayley out.  
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The cage was a curious mix of primitive design and modern resources. It was made of horizontal and vertical enforced steel bars that intersected every half of a square foot. It looked the same way from every angle; it was basically a seven square foot steel cube. There was a rope attached to the bottom of the one side of the cage. The rope went up into a tree, around a branch and was tied tightly around the base of the three's trunk. Hayley was tied up six ways from Sunday in there.

Sienna only now had a chance to really look at the cage. Now that the camp was quiet and every one was gone. It was just her, Tyler and Owen. She should have known he would stay. He hadn't liked her much since that time when they were sixteen and she wouldn't let him feel her up at a party. He was one of the most vocal ones when it came to whether or not the pack should accept her back as a hybrid. He wasn't too enthused about it.

That was probably why when Caroline zipped up behind him and conked him with a rock, she wasn't too enthused about helping him. Hearing the blow, Tyler snapped around and saw her. Sienna took his shock as her opportunity to snap his neck. As he slithered to the ground, Sienna started to move towards the rope.

"I'll open the cage. You have to go in to untie her. Then the both of you need to get as far way as fast as you can."

"What are you gonna do when they come back and she's not here?"

Sienna stopped and looked at Caroline. Her voice had shook like a leaf and now that she took a good look at her, the girl looked unhinged. Her clothes and hair were a bit dishevelled and her eyes…usually so cold and certain, were now scared and really, really sad. All that aside, Caroline had just inquired about her well-being. That had never happened before. Caroline didn't care about anyone but Caroline…and maybe Klaus…kinda, sorta in a self-serving way. Sienna shook herself and finished untying the rope.

"They're my pack. I know how to handle them."

The rope was undone. Sienna pulled on it with as much strength as she could muster. Soon the end attached to the rope began to slowly come forward and rise. As soon as it was high enough, Caroline ducked under and ran to untie Hayley.

Working as quickly as she could, Caroline said, "They won't be gone long. As soon as the last rope is off, start running. They're at the south east boundary so go around them. I'll be right behind you but don't look back for me. It'll slow you down."

As she removed Hayley's gag last, the pregnant wolf nodded quickly and took off into the trees. Caroline mentally urged her to run faster. It was dusk and the sun was setting fast. It wouldn't be any safer for her to be in the bayou at night. Caroline was stepping back out of the cage when it came down with a loud CLANG and knocked her onto her back.

Caroline's head was a little sore from the fall so she didn't immediately get back on her feet. As she lay there, Sienna came around to the front of the cage and looked at her, cocking her head to a side.

"You can't get out of there, you know. It was originally supposed to hold vampires and it was spelled so that vampires couldn't open it. That's why we had Hayley tied up so tight. You, on the other hand…"

Caroline groaned, "Why are you doing this?"

Sienna broke into maniacal giggles, "You're kidding, right? You killed me. You turned me into a lapdog for the Original Hybrid. You took me away from my family. You destroyed the love I had finally found…"

At this, she looked at Tyler. "I can't look at him the same way and it's your fault. I can't get past what happened and IT IS ALL YOUR FAULT!"

Sienna realised she was screaming and stopped, straightened herself and cleared her throat.

"We're having that party you told me to have tonight. And I bet when everyone gets drunk and happy, they're gonna find sooooo many interesting things to do with a captured vampire…it's gonna be a fun night."

Sienna smiled.  
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Elijah tried to go over the bumps in the road as slowly as possible. Katherine was sleeping in the back and he didn't want to disturb her. He snook a glance. Her soft brown curls fell around her face, framing angelic features persons who knew Katherine would never call so. The curls bounced with every pothole the car went into. She really was beautiful, Katherine. That was irrefutable.

"ELIJAH!"

At hearing his name, the Original slammed the brakes. Just in time, it seemed like. As slow as he was going, he had managed to stop mere millimetres from Sienna, who was standing in the middle of the road. Elijah jumped out of the car ad went to her. As he was going, he sensed movement in the bushes. He looked in the direction, and Hayley ran out of the bushes to him.

As shocked as he was, his relief and happiness at seeing her again overwhelmed him and he held her like she was life itself. He genuinely didn't want to let her go, ever.

"As loathe as I am to interrupt this tender moment," Sienna said drily, "You two need to get out of here. And take him with you."

'Him ?' thought Elijah.

Then he looked down and realised that Sienna was holding Tyler Lockwood's body by one arm, the rest of him unconscious on the dirt road.

"Thought you and Klaus might like to have him. Seeing that he did kidnap Hayley and all."

Elijah looked and the boy and set his jaw. "Throw him in the back."

As Sienna did just that, Elijah looked into his car and saw that Katherine was now awake. She was also upright and staring daggers at him and the werewolf still in his arms.


	16. Chapter 16

When Stefan got back to his hotel room, he was exhausted. After a long, hard day of searching for his blonde best friend in vain, his bunny diet really showcased its limitations. All he wanted to do was hit the sack but as soon as he opened the door, he knew that wasn't going to happen. He felt a presence in his room when he stepped over the threshold. Shutting the door quietly, he inched slowly and quietly around the corner only to be greeted in his living room with a resounding…

"Ripper!"

Stefan almost turned around and went right back out the door. He swore that he would never return to New Orleans again.

He sighed defeatedly before saying sharply, "What do you want, Klaus?"

Smiling, Klaus replied, "Now, now, Ripper, don't be coy. You know exactly what I came here to retrieve."

"The word 'retrieve' implies that the object belonged to you in the first place. Besides, don't you have a hybrid-baby-carrying werewolf girl to find? Why are you still sniffing around Caroline?"

Klaus's smile became less sure.

"That's my business," he said, "I know she's not here right now but either she's coming back here or you know where she is. Either way, you will hand her over to me-"

"You know what I don't understand," said Stefan with a chuckle, "Is that you know Caroline's humanity was off. Maybe you didn't do it but you sure as hell took advantage of it. You're a lot of things, Klaus, but stupid isn't one of them. Why do you think she'll still want to be with you, be around you, breathe the same air as you even…now that her emotions are back?"

Klaus' smile by now had disappeared.

"Can't you remember the reason she wouldn't give you the time of day in Mystic Falls? Oh, my mistake. The reasons."

The last word was barely out of Stefan's mouth before Klaus had him pinned against the wall, his arm crushing Stefan's throat.

"I did not come here for romantic advice. This is the last time I'm asking politely. WHERE. IS. CAROLINE."

Stefan somehow managed to choke out. "I don't…know…she vanished…thought…you…had her…"

'He's lying,' thought Klaus, and bore down more forcefully on his throat. If Stefan wasn't a vampire, he would have been dead already from the lack of oxygen.

When Stefan said nothing, Klaus released him. He turned his back on Stefan's gasping coughs and clenched his fists. Something told him the younger Salvatore was telling the truth. Even if he was lying, Caroline would not be pleased with him if Klaus killed her friend. Besides, the Mystic Falls gang had a fatal flaw: they subscribed to "Never leave a man behind" in a big way. If he kept Stefan close, sooner or later, Caroline would come for him. Klaus turned back around and saw that Stefan was no longer gasping for air.

"What say, we join forces then? We both want to find her and I know this city better than you do," Klaus offered.

"We both want to find her for different reasons so what happens when we do?"

Klaus crossed over to Stefan, grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt and hauled him out of the room.

"How about I decide if to throw you off that bridge when we come to it?"  
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Elijah dropped the last chain to the cold stone floor of the basement. The limp body of Tyler Lockwood was held upright by the chains binding him to the iron frame at his back. The boy was yet unconscious but once he awoke, he would wish for the blank bliss of oblivion. Elijah fought hard not to awaken the boy with a vervain shower; Klaus would deal with him when he got home. So for now, Elijah was just securing him.

Elijah left the basement and made his way back to the living room where Hayley was currently sleeping on the couch. It warmed his heart to see her back here, where she belonged. That warm feeling quickly subsided when he saw Katherine in the armchair across from her sipping whiskey from one of their tumblers. As soon as she saw him, she got up.

"Nice place Klaus has here but what do you say we go to your place?"

Elijah noticed the unease in her eyes, the slight fidgety movement of her leg. He crossed the room and poured himself a drink.

"This is my place. Klaus, Rebekah, Hayley and I live here together."

Elijah sipped his gin and vamp-zipped across the room just in time to stop Katherine from sprinting for the front door.

"ARE YOU CRAZY?! You brought me to Klaus' house?" Katherine screeched angrily.

"Niklaus has bigger problems than you two's 600-year-old feud to worry about…"

"That's not what I meant. I'm human again and I'm not gonna stay here for Klaus to make me a human blood bag to create his precious hybrids."

"There was a recent…incident that convinced me that making hybrids is no longer a priority of my brother's. Trust me. He will not harm you."

Elijah reached up and tenderly brushed a tendril of Katherine's hair behind her ear.

"I won't let him."

Just then, the sound of a car pulling in caught their attention.

"Klaus has returned," Elijah said, "Go upstairs into one of the spare bedrooms. Niklaus will be preoccupied and he won't go up there. It'll give me time to…warm him to your presence."

Rolling her eyes, Katherine nonetheless hopped upstairs.

Elijah raised an eyebrow when his brother came into the room followed by the younger Salvatore but made no comment about it. He spoke quickly about Hayley's retrieval though, if only to stop Klaus from smelling or hearing a human heartbeat in the house that might lead him to Katarina.

"Your hybrid delivered Hayley to me in the bayou. She is unharmed and resting upstairs," aid Elijah smoothly, the calm of his tone belying the import of his words.

As fleeting as it was, Elijah could see the flash of gratitude that flashed across Klaus' face at the news. Whatever contempt Niklaus might hold for Hayley, Elijah knew that the child was slowly but surely getting under his skin.

"Right then," Klaus said as he poured himself a drink and lifted it to his brother, "Hayley and my unborn child are back where they belong. All is right with the world."

"So then what is he doing here?" Elijah asked, looking at Stefan.

"Wow, you guys just can't keep girls around here, can you? Klaus wants my help tracking down Caroline."

Dropping his gaze and lowering himself into a chair, Elijah said, "A vampire who has abandoned their emotions is hard to track. With no emotional connections to any place or anyone, one never knows where they could be…"

"Thanks to your brother here, her emotions are back in play. Her sanity…well…jury's still out on that one," Stefan said softly, looking pointedly at Klaus.

"Think I'll start our search with your house. She's been here a long time and she's confused. It just may be big enough for her to hide in-"

"If she were here, I would know," snarled Klaus.

"Consider this a show of faith on your part," Stefan called as he went upstairs.

Casting his attention back to his brother, Klaus asked, "So where is Sienna? I thought she would have come back here with you."

"Her pack is having a…barbeque."

Klaus raised an eyebrow at Elijah's words.

"She only said it was important and that she was the one bringing the food so she had to be there."

Klaus cocked his head to one side, furrowing his brow. After a minute or so in that position, he vamp-sped to the kitchen and back into his seat.

"Hungry, brother?" Elijah asked with a smile in his voice.

"There were foil containers in the refrigerator, a number of them. I thought they were Hayley's because she's the only one in the house who actually eats food but she said they weren't hers. I wanted to throw them out. The smell was nauseating. It smelled like raw meat and sauce and spice…and blood. It was so disgusting but then one day as I was about to chuck the lot, Caroline came in and stopped me. Said they were hers. I asked her why she was keeping raw meat in my kitchen and she just took the containers out of my hand and put them back. 'You know how wild things love meat' she said."

"…so Caroline gave Sienna the food for her pack…but why?"

"Caroline. She has a plan." Sienna.

'But what plan?!' Klaus thought furiously.  
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Stefan had already accidentally found Hayley's room so when he heard the other non-vampiric heartbeat upstairs, he knew it didn't belong to the sleeping werewolf. He followed the beat, moving softly and quickly to one of the rooms he hadn't searched as yet. He paused outside the door, and listened. The human inside was frightened, elevated heart rate and slight hyperventilation. They were also standing still very close to the door.

Biting the bullet, Stefan quickly opened the door and went inside. The room was completely dark but Stefan's vampire senses enabled him to grab whatever was being aimed at his back and throw the person at the other end across the room. With them on their back, Stefan had the chance to flick on the lights.

"Katherine?"

She said nothing as she pulled herself back to her feet amidst many moans and groans.

Stefan went right up to her. "What are you doing here? You can't be here. This is Klaus' house, for God's sake-"

"Elijah said Klaus wouldn't harm me, bigger fish to fry and all that. But he doesn't know I'm here yet," Katherine muttered.

"Elijah. Elijah. That why you're here? Chasing down your true love?" Stefan shot back sarcastically.

Like the crack of a whip, Katherine snapped.

"Actually I'm here because your bitch of a bleached blonde bestie left me a rather venomous, rather goading note that I felt…compelled to verify for myself. Now I have. So now I can go."

Stefan knew from the look of rage on her face, Katherine wasn't going to say anything else about her reasons for being there so he didn't press it. Caroline had needed Katherine to come to New Orleans. But why?

Half an hour later, Stefan returned downstairs where both Elijah and Klaus were sitting, sipping whiskey, facing each other. If Stefan hadn't had more pressing things on his mind, he would have been freaked out.

Looking at Klaus, he asked, "What would Caroline need with Katherine?"

Both Originals looking at him with surprise and Klaus with confusion, he continued.

"Caroline got Katherine to come here. For what I don't know. But when she did, she was still doing your dirty work so…you know."

Klaus began to deny it, "I really have no idea what…"

Then he stopped. Something clicked. But no. She wasn't that crazy…was she? Oh God yes she was. Well she had been.

Klaus jumped out of his seat and was right in the younger Salvatore's face.

"Where. Is Katherine?" he said menacingly.

Stefan didn't back down. "Somewhere safe. From you."

Stepping back with a look of disgust, Klaus replied, "I could care less about Katarina Petrova as a person but right now, if I'm right, she has something I need. Dearly."

Clenching his fists and gathering his thoughts, Klaus went on, "You don't want to tell me where she is. Fine. I will have someone come here within the next 15 minutes. Take them to her. Compel them not to remember where she is if you want to. I will call from the car and explain."

Walking out, he called to Elijah, "Up for a wolf hunt, brother?"

The two vampires left in the room shared a confused look before Elijah followed Klaus out to the car.  
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His hands grabbed her hips roughly, pulling her into him as if to make them one. One hand went south to squeeze her tight ass through the denim barrier he was becoming increasingly annoyed with. The other travelled up her back, dancing over skin softer than silk to unhook her bra strap whilst their tongues danced the dance of warriors, each pushing for dominance. Her luscious lips teased his full, soft ones as her hands pulled at his pants, trying to free his raging hard-on. Feeling the coolness of air on his length, he pulled away from her mouth and buried his face in her neck, sucking on that spot he knew drove her crazy. On cue, her throaty groans of pleasure filled the air.

Klaus could feel his fangs elongating. Threading his fingers through Caroline's beautiful hair, he bit into her neck. The ecstasy of drinking her blood was cruelly halted by the pinch of something small entering his back. Releasing her neck and yanking her hair hard, Klaus glared at her. He knew she had done something. It was always only ever her infuriating him.

Her face and voice in their usual bored expression and tone, she said, "I need your blood."

"Whatever for?"

She cocked an eyebrow. "Don't you trust me, Klaus?"

"Barely."

Rolling her eyes, she rejoined, "I had one little vial of your blood with me to protect against werewolf venom and I made you a new hybrid. Don't you think that with a supply of my own, I could do so much more for you?"

Klaus sighed and closed his eyes. He never could win with her. It wasn't worth the fight.

"I decide how much you take," he finally said.

"Of course," Caroline replied, slinking her way down to his crotch.


	17. Chapter 17

Had Niklaus and Elijah Mikaelson not been thousand year old Original vampires, the car ride would have been unbearably awkward. Elijah could feel the annoyance radiating of his brother and see it in the way he gripped the steering wheel but Klaus said not a word. Elijah, being Elijah, was loathe to break the silence. However, it had been the better part of half an hour and still Niklaus had said nothing. Elijah was a patient man but this was ridiculous. His brother had elicited his help for a venture he had no clue about, except that it involved wolves. With a sigh, he prepared himself to just ask Klaus what was going on. Klaus beat him to it.

"She was going to turn them," he gritted out.

With a creased brow, Elijah turned to his brother and asked, "Them…the entire pack?"

"She had some of my blood and she obviously got Katherine here for doppelganger blood to complete the transition. I think she put the blood in whatever she gave Sienna to feed them at this barbeque thing they're having."

Elijah returned his gaze to the road before him. "Bold plan."

"She had no emotions at the time so it's not like she could be afraid. Had I not-"

Klaus broke off here and cleared his throat. His voice had taken a hesitant tone.

"Had I not compelled her humanity to return, she might have told me what she was up to before now and maybe some of this could have been avoided."

Despite the gravity of the moment, a small smile pulled at the edge of Elijah's lips. Klaus was genuinely concerned for the baby vampire's life. After a thousand years, it was amusing on a certain level that a blonde cheerleader was the one to slip past Klaus' walls.

"So," Elijah said, "What is the rescue plan?"

"There isn't one."

"Niklaus, you can't possibly expect us to just go in there and hope for the best-"

"I said there wasn't a rescue plan. I never said there wasn't a plan."

Elijah said nothing as he waited for Klaus to explain himself.

"It would be remiss of me to pass up the opportunity to…acquire a few more hybrids. Especially for Hayley and the baby. They will need more protection as time goes on."

Elijah shook his head, "And here I thought you actually cared about Ms. Forbes' fate…"

Klaus pressed his lips together and breathed out. "Caroline, I think, meant for us to go in there, take them by surprise and basically massacre them when they were least expecting an attack. That is exactly what I plan to do. When they are all dead, it will be all the easier to retrieve Caroline. If slaughtering the lot of them happens to make me feel better about the fact that they kidnapped the mother of my child and are now holding my…most trusted associate…"

Klaus shrugged.

Elijah sighed and rubbed his forehead. Klaus' obsessive need for retribution could be dialled back but never completely quashed. Then he stopped. Katherine.

"You're going to drain her, aren't you?" Elijah asked, surprising himself with the dead tone of his voice.

"I instructed Stefan to let the medic I sent take as many much of her blood as Caroline took from me. In the case that poor, frail, human Katherine starts to suffer symptoms of blood loss, Stefan will heal her with his blood."

Klaus turned to look his big brother in the eyes.

"I do not intend to kill that deceitful, manipulative woman you care so much about, Elijah. Now stop thinking about her and focus on the task at hand."

For the rest of the ride, the car was ridden with silence once more.  
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Caroline's throat scratched painfully as it elicited yet another soundless scream. Her back arched and she slid a bit to one side on her own blood which by now covered the bottom of the cage. She had screamed so much that her voice was gone. For the entire night, she had been squirted with vervain water and shot with tooth picks from all directions. It was like the werewolves took shifts torturing her. At first, she instinctively moved away from the direction of the torture but she soon realised that only made the other werewolves around the cage pick up the slack. She felt like every piece of skin on her body had been burned off by the incessant bouts of vervain waiter. Even during the mere seconds when the water would dry, she felt the burn of the toothpicks in her muscles, her veins. The few times she tried to pick a few of them out, she had been instantly riddled with ten more. Many times, she felt herself on the brink of unconsciousness but the burn…the burn always brought her back. There were always more toothpicks, there was always more vervain.

Caroline couldn't understand how these people could laugh and drink and walk around and eat and be so happy with each other then come torture her like this, rolling with mirth. It was like she was the freak at the circus. They all came to look at her; most of them fired off a toothpick or a splash of vervain water or two at her.

She knew they weren't going to stop. She knew she was going to die in that metal cage in a bayou in New Orleans, surrounded by sadistic werewolves. As afraid and as in pain as she was, Caroline accepted that she should die, for all the wrong things she had done while her humanity switch was off. What she did was unforgivable. It was fitting that she die like the monster she was. She started to feel the familiar dark pull of oblivion and went limp, she could no longer feel her arms and legs. Just the burn. Always the burn. Just as it was about to pull her under, she heard something she hadn't heard for hours. Not since Sienna's pack had returned to find her trussed up and waiting.

Silence.

Well, not silence per se but the laughing stopped. The sound of snickering had so pervaded the air in the bayou that without it, the night felt vacant. But off somewhere, Caroline could hear…what was that…screaming? The torture had stopped and the werewolves around the cage weren't looking at her anymore. At what, she couldn't see. Caroline's eyes were heavy and half-closed, even so, so much blood had dripped into them, she could barely see.

But she could hear.

The screams became louder and more desperate. They cut through the bayou like lightning though a starry sky. The running…so much running, in all directions. The ground reverberated with the movement. She could hear bones being snapped and the thuds of bodies hitting the ground, forever stilled.

And she could smell.

The smell of blood was so thick in the air Caroline felt her fangs tingling as if to drop. Her cage was filled with her own blood but the odour coming from beyond it was too different and strong not to be sensed. The smell of an ocean of wolf blood wafted from the wounds of the deceased to Caroline's cage. Wolf blood smelled different to human or vampire blood; more earthy, like the woods and had more than a hint of wet dog in it.

Then just like that it stopped.

No more screaming voices, no more running feet. Caroline didn't know what was going on. She just knew she was going to die right then in a pool of her own blood. At least the torture had stopped and she could do so in peace.  
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Elijah surveyed the scene of carnage as he wiped his bloody hands clean on his hankerchief. This had been completely unnecessary. They did not have to slaughter a whole wolf pack to retrieve Ms. Forbes. But Klaus did not know the meaning of diplomacy or negotiation. Klaus only understood strength, speed and brute force. Elijah was ashamed to have been complicit in this but he did promise to help his brother regain control of their town and Klaus seemed convinced that the baby vampire had a place in the kingdom he planned to build.

Taking a few steps over blood-soaked soil towards the center of the camp, Elijah noticed the steel cage. He also noticed the unnaturally still pile of blonde hair and blood, it seemed, inside. Calling to his brother, Elijah made his way over, looking the contraption up and down as he went. Realising how the door worked, he immediately reached for the rope. And immediately pulled a quickly blistering hand away in pain. Klaus came to his side at that moment.

"What is it?" he asked.

"I don't know," replied Elijah, still rubbing his hand, "The rope must be made with vervain it burns so…"

Klaus reached past his brother and tentatively touched the rope. Feeling nothing, he threw his brother a 'hmm' look and tended to it himself, eventually pulling the door up. Elijah scampered in, gathered Caroline in his arms and rushed back out. Releasing the rope suddenly, Klaus ran over and took Caroline from him just as the metal door slammed back down with a massive CLANG.

Klaus got his first look at her in days and stopped cold. He could barely recognise her with half her face burned off and her body riddled with tiny metal sticks. So bloody was she that a more macabre person would have liked her to a red pincushion made to look like a doll.

"Niklaus."

His brother's stern voice brought him back to the moment. She was so still, just too still. What if…

Klaus bit his wrist and put it to her lips. His blood dripped onto her already red lips and down her chin. Still she did not move or open her eyes. Klaus pushed down harder to force her lips apart and ensure his blood got into her mouth and her system as quickly as possible. He squeezed his wrist, trying to force as much blood as possible into her mouth.

Still she did not move.

"Come on, Caroline, drink. Drink and get well and open your eyes for me…Caroline..CAROLINE!"


	18. Chapter 18

Stefan Salvatore was not in a good mood. Katherine's screeching turned whining at having to give so much blood for a cause of Klaus' had given him a migraine by the time he left her. He hadn't even been too fond of the idea of yet again giving Klaus access to doppelganger blood but Klaus assured him that it was needed to rescue Caroline. Stefan, of course, didn't fully believe him but he didn't really have any other options. To make matters worse, he was now schlepping through an unfamiliar bayou he knew to be a haunt of werewolves.

Stefan walked for a while, wondering if he was going the right way. Until he heard the screams. And smelled the blood…so much blood. Having been Klaus'…'sidekick' let's say, for a time when he had been trying to make hybrids the first time, he knew too well the signs of a wolf massacre. He sighed. At least he knew he was going the right way. He followed the sounds and the smell until the screams stopped. By then the smell was so strong it was more than enough to guide him. But he was in no hurry to get there. To see yet another example of Klaus' carnage firsthand. He continued at his regular pace.

Until he heard Klaus' voice shouting the name of the one he did all this for.

"CAROLINE!"

He vamp-sped ahead to the wolf camp, only to see Klaus and Elijah over the too still body of his best friend, Klaus' wrist still at her lips. He dropped the cooler he had been carrying and raced over, pushing in between the two Originals unceremoniously. She couldn't be dead, not now, not like this…Nothing. He took her head in his lap, with some resistance from Klaus. No, no…He placed one hand gingerly on her blood-stained cheek and stroked her soft, blonde hair with the other. Please, Forbes, just open your eyes, just, please for me, one breath…Caroline did not move. He fought the hot tears stinging the back of his eyes and brought his forehead to touch hers.

Then…she coughed.

Stefan sat bolt upright at the sudden movement of what he thought was his best friend's corpse. She coughed again and again, spattering blood on his shirt, but he didn't care. He laughed and hugged her closer. Klaus' face lit up with relief and Stefan heard Elijah release a breath he must have been holding for some time. The coughs racked Caroline's bruised body and she groaned at the pain the movement brought. The sound alerted the men to the many tiny pieces of wood sticking out of Caroline's body; the burns were starting to heal, thanks to Klaus' blood.

"There's a cabin not far from here, on a lake, where you can tend to her. I'll take you," said Klaus, reaching for Caroline.

Eyeing Klaus' outstretched arms, Stefan gathered Caroline in his own and replied, "Lead the way."

The symbolism of the moment was not lost on Klaus, who said nothing and raced away, Stefan at his heels. One problem at a time.

When Klaus returned to the camp, he could hear and see a few of the werewolves beginning to stir. At the far end, he saw his brother inspecting the contents of the cooler Stefan had brought. He walked over and did the same. Many small test tubes containing blood were packed in ice inside.

"Will it be enough?" Elijah asked solemnly.

Klaus shrugged, "If it isn't, I will make do with what it yields."

His brother's cold, distant tone caused Elijah to bow his head in shame.

"These are people, Niklaus," he began, "People that you, with my assistance I am ashamed to say, just murdered. If having their necks snapped, backs broken, hearts ripped out or throats torn to shreds wasn't enough, now they are going to be turned into your little hybrid army, to serve you, fight your battles, ensure your happiness…the least you could do is treat this moment with the gravity it deserves."

Klaus purposely avoided his brother's gaze. One thousand years and Elijah still had the ability to make him feel shame. Not that he would ever give him the satisfaction of knowing. As if orchestrated by a divine entity, just then, one of the wolves woke up, jerking upright and heaving a loud intake of breath. The wolf looked around joltingly, his expression going from confusion to sorrow to absolute terror. Grabbing one of the test tubes, Klaus smiled and made for him, throwing just three words at Elijah.

"Duty calls, brother."  
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Stefan sighed as he removed what he hoped was the last toothpick from Caroline's neck. Every one he yanked out of her was met with a yelp of pain and he wished he could just let her sleep and recuperate but her vampire body would not heal with wood in it. He sat down on an overturned box next to the bed and held her hand, not firmly, he knew she was still tender.

Her eyelids shook, then fluttered. Finally her eyes opened, just a crack. She shut them again, then re-opened them further.

"Caroline?" Stefan whispered hesitantly.

Hearing his voice, Caroline tried to turn her head towards it but when her neck muscles screamed, so did she.

"Shh, shh, don't move. It's me, Stefan. I'm here. You're ok."

"Sss…St…Stef…an?" she moaned.

"Yes, it's me. Don't try to move or talk. Just rest. You need to rest and get better."

"Th…the wol…wolves…"

Stefan softly pushed back a tendril of her hair from her face. "They won't hurt you anymore, Care."

He held her hand as she slipped into much-needed slumber. Once sure she was asleep, he went outside, pulling a washcloth from his pocket. When he could see from her dreams that she was deeply asleep, he would try to clean her up a little, get some of that blood off her skin. As he dipped the cloth into the lake water, her words floated through his mind.

'The wolves…' she had said, so broken and scared.

Those wolves would never hurt her again, that was guaranteed. But there was another wolf Stefan had to worry about now. A wolf whose bite she had felt already. A wolf who he was sure would not easily give up his prize. But Stefan owed it to Caroline to protect her and that he would, or die trying.

'Damsel in distress…cabin in the woods…big bad wolf…Caroline would have a field day with this stuff,' he thought with a chuckle.


	19. Chapter 19

As he watched the last werewolf gulp down Katherine's blood and complete their transition into hybrids, Klaus silently released a sigh of relief. It had taken the better part of the night to deal with the entire pack. Some of the werewolves hadn't awoken at all; Klaus had his theories about that but most of them had so he wasn't concerned. One of the werewolves had elected not to drink the blood and die, which Elijah convinced Klaus to let her do. However, when other werewolves appeared to want to follow her example, Klaus snapped her neck and poured the blood down the others' throats. He was not about to lose any more potential soldiers than he had to. He was just about to address the motley crew when Elijah pulled him aside.

"You have your hybrids. Now what are you going to do with them?" Elijah asked.

"They are my hybrids, brother, so…whatever I please, really," Klaus replied glibly.

"Niklaus, I am serious."

"They will be the means through which I take back New Orleans. Hybrids are stronger than vampires and their bite kills any day of the month, not just on a full moon. They are the perfect warriors-"

"Do they know this?"

"They don't have to. A little thing called a sire bond means that they will do whatever I tell them," Klaus said, smiling.

"Didn't your previous set of hybrids break their bond and rebel against you?"

Klaus' happy expression faded. He opened his mouth to reply and then closed it, taking a little more time to think about what to say. Elijah just looked at him and waited.

"Between you, Rebekah and Marcel, I have been made to understand that I do not inspire loyalty and that I never will. Loyalty is the only thing that would keep them obedient, I know. So, originally, I had planned for…someone else…to mediate for me, someone whose loyalty to me was absolute, to whom they would answer. If they were loyal to h…that person, and that person was loyal to me…needless to say, that plan has been deferred."

Elijah almost felt pity for his brother. For a person who had kept so much from him and played so many games with him, Klaus had come to depend very much on Ms. Forbes. He also placed a great deal of trust in her, if he wanted her to have control of his hybrids.

Klaus continued, "As it is, I need to iron some things out before I mobilise them so they can stay here for now. I'll explain to them what happened and what they are and tell them to stay here and act like nothing's happened. Then we go back to the house. I know you're dying to check on the mother of my child." Ignoring Klaus' sarcasm, Elijah said nothing as his brother made his way to address his new hybrids, turning instead to walk back towards the car.  
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As they sun crept over the skyline, Stefan lay Caroline on the bed in his hotel room. Katherine was passed out on the couch. After all the toothpick holes healed, he thought it was best to get her back to civilisation…and away from Klaus. As he pulled his arms from underneath her, he felt her fingers at his palm, reaching for him. He looked at her.

"Stay with me…please…Stefan…" she whispered.

"You need to sleep. You're not back to 100% yet,"he replied.

"Please…don't leave…"

Hearing the need in her voice, Stefan would have felt bad leaving her. He gently climbed into the bed next to her, trying not to touch or jostle her in case she was still sore. She felt him next to her and turned into him, resting her head in the crook of his arm. As soon as she assumed that position, Stefan felt Caroline relax, like she only now felt comfortable and secure enough. He softly stroked her hair.

"Thank you…for…rescuing me…I would…have died…without you…"

"It wasn't just me. Klaus and Elijah played a part too."

At the mention of Klaus, Caroline squirmed a little.

"At least nothing happened to that pack. I…the other me…was gonna try to turn them for Klaus. One good thing's come of this entire fiasco, see?"

"Care…"

Stefan didn't want to tell Caroline the truth, nor did he think hearing it would make her feel better, but he knew that if he didn't rip off the band-aid then, he would never have the guts to.

"He did turn the pack."

Caroline leaned her head back to look up at him.

"What? No…he couldn't have…I didn't tell him what I was doing…what I was planning…"

"He figured it out, Care, I'm sorry…"

"B-But…no! He couldn't know…"

"He did, Care…"

Stefan wrapped his arms around Caroline as her soft refusals became sobs that racked her small body. He rubbed her arms and assured her it was okay. He could feel the depth of her sorrow at the turn of events.

"You don't understand," she cried, "I did some hor-horrible things before…If I could have saved them, I would have done something good…but…I couldn't save them…I couldn't even do one good thing…I am a monster…"

Feeling the agitation in her body, Stefan shushed her and, putting his lips to her crown, stroked her cheek. He knew this place. That hopeless place where you realise all the unforgivable things you've done and have no idea how to go on living with so much guilt on your chest.

Looking her straight in the eye, Stefan intoned, "Listen to me. You are Caroline Forbes. Ms. Mystic Falls. You are one of the smartest, kindest, most decent people I know. You will get through this. You will. Tomorrow. Now…sleep, Forbes."

He held her in his arms until her breathing became even and he knew she was sleeping. He was tempted to just stay there with her but then Katherine came into the room and cleared her throat to get his attention. It was her facial expression, however, that got him alert. Katherine looked the closest to scared he's ever seen her.

"Stefan, you have a visitor."

He knew that she wouldn't say any more. He disentangled himself from Caroline and made his way across to the door. After he passed Katherine, who was in the door, she shut the door behind him. Then he heard the lock click. Looking ahead, he realised why.

"Hello, Ripper," drawled Klaus.

Stefan sighed and dropped onto the couch.

"What do you want, Klaus?"

"I came to see after Caroline, of course."

"She's fine. Asleep. No, you can't see her. She's talking now but she's crying too and I have the oddest feeling that seeing you isn't the best thing for her mental well-being."

Klaus chuckled, "Touche. But as glad as I am that she is well, I really came to speak with you."

Stefan cocked his head to a side, "About what, pray tell?"

"Business proposition, mate. I have recently acquired some…associates that need training. Survival, combat, stealth…you know the type of thing. I remember that at one time, you made a stellar right-hand man. This time, I'll even let you keep your self-control."

Stefan had to laugh. Klaus however did not take his guffaws of mirth very well. The Original Hybrid was not amused and his face said as much.

"You're laughing at me. I've annihilated villages for less…"

"You want me to work for you. You want me to work for you? No. Let me tell you what's really going on here. You know that as soon as Caroline can walk, we'll leave here so fast your head's gonna spin. You think that if you convince me to stay, she'll stay here with me and then she'll somehow forgive you and be a part of your life again. Just stop me when I go wrong."

Klaus' silent rage was answer enough. He gritted his teeth but managed to get out a few words.

"Is 'no' your final answer?"

Stefan snorted and rose from the couch, "That's my only answer."

Klaus shrugged, seemingly in defeat, and said, "Okay then."

With lightning speed, he grabbed Stefan's chin with one hand, held his shoulder with the other and twisted. Stefan's neck snapped and he slid to the ground at Klaus' feet.

"Plan B, then, " he breathed.


	20. Chapter 20

Seeing the face of the person who killed you as soon as you wake up should be illegal. At least Caroline thought so. As soon as she cracked an eye, she saw Katherine looking at her with her signature half-bored, half-mischievous facial expression.

"Finally Sleeping Beauty decides to wake up," she drawled.

Caroline groaned as she moved and stretched muscles that felt like they were still flinching from toothpicks. She flexed her legs and rolled her neck while she looked around and got familiar with her surroundings.

Ignoring Katherine's sarcasm, she asked, "Where's Stefan?"

Katherine's gaze fell, "I don't know. Klaus was here-

Caroline's eyes popped at that.

"-and then I heard what I would normally think is a neck being broken and a body being moved. Then the door shut and it's been quiet ever since."

"Wait a minute. You heard all this and didn't look?" Caroline asked incredulously.

"And make myself noticeable to Klaus? Umm no."

Caroline tried to jump off the bed but fell backwards when her muscles responded a bit slower than she expected. Moaning and rubbing her thighs, she tried it again, more slowly. As she went around the bedpost and made for the door, Katherine got up.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

"To find my friend because unlike some people, I care whether Stefan lives or dies."

"Okay, Ms. Goody-Two Shoes, did you stop to think that there's a pretty good chance that Stefan is with Klaus? Meaning, you'll actually see, maybe even have to talk to Klaus? I got the vibe that your and his relationship is…what does facebook call it…complicated?"

Caroline shot Katherine a death glare and limped out of the room. She wasn't sure if she didn't bother to answer the goad because it didn't deserve a response or because she didn't have one.

A few minutes later, Katherine watched from a window as Caroline reached the street. She saw the blonde look around, then a car pulled up next to her. Klaus' car, it looked like. Katherine's eyes narrowed as she saw Caroline hop in and the car speed off.  
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Caroline had been surprised to see Stefan pull up outside the hotel in Klaus' car but she had been so happy to see him in one piece, she had automatically done so when he told her to get in. As soon as she was wholly inside, she nearly jumped across to hug him. So happy was she that she didn't notice the hesitant way in which Stefan's arms encircled her or the way he squeezed her back once they had. She pulled back and smiled at him before starting to chatter.

"OH MY GOD Stefan, what happened? Katherine said Klaus snapped your neck and took you away. I was so worried…"

Stroking her hair back from her face, Stefan replied in a dreamy voice, "No, no…he did snap my neck but he just wanted me to hear a business proposal of his that I should have…well, that I did accept."

Caroline pulled back a little from Stefan's hand and narrowed her eyes, "What did you do?"

Hiding the hurt that flashed across his face when Caroline moved away from him, Stefan replied, "He wants me to train his hybrids and basically, be their commander I guess. You know how Klaus is."

"And you AGREED?"

"Think about it, Caroline. If Klaus has to go through me to work the hybrids, I can moderate the amount of damage he does to and with them. Better me than him. You know that."

Caroline rubbed her temples as she attempted to wrap her head around this turn of events.

"I guess…"

"Good, then," Stefan said, with a smile, then returned his stare to the road before him.

"Where are we going?" Caroline breathed.

"To…Klaus' house. I'm figuring you left some stuff there. We should go get it."

Caroline looked at Stefan one more time, then back at the road. Something about him was different, she just couldn't put her finger on it. Maybe Klaus had compelled him…if that was the case, only Klaus could un-compel him so his house was the best place to be. She relaxed her head against the headrest.

'Should have stayed the hell in Mystic Falls,' she thought as the car flew along.

They went over a pothole and something made a loud BUMP in the back of the car. Caroline looked back.

"What was that?" she asked.

"Just some stuff in the trunk," Stefan murmured.  
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The car pulled up outside the Mikaelson mansion and Stefan jumped out and immediately made for the door, opening it and walking in like he owned the place. Caroline raised an eyebrow at Stefan's new cocksure attitude behind his back but followed him and said nothing. Stefan swung into the foyer where a bemused Elijah was talking to Hayley.

"Mr. Salvatore, I believe even your generation was taught to knock when attempting to gain entry to someone else's home," he said.

Stefan steam-rolled ahead as if Elijah hadn't said anything at all, "Ms. Forbes left some belongings here. She's here to collect them."

He turned back at Caroline and nodded. She zipped upstairs to grab her things before the two vampires in the room decided they wanted to see whose was bigger.

As soon as she was out of sight, Stefan sprinted outside, opened the trunk and took out the bag inside. Flinging it over his shoulder, he ran back inside to the foyer and dropped it at Elijah's feet.

"I don't know what kind of game you are playing, Stefan, but-" Elijah started.

"Hayley, leave," Stefan interjected.

Thee werewolf stood her ground. Stefan had to give her props. She was confused, and freaked out, but she was doing her damnedest not to let him know that. So she needed a little push. Stefan let his eyes go black and the vampire veins in his face manifest, then repeated his request. Elijah looked at her, nodded and she acquiesced this time. As soon as she too had gone upstairs, Stefan knelt down and partially unzipped the large opaque bag he had just lugged in. Elijah's mouth fell open when he saw the face of the person inside. Smiling at Elijah's shock, Stefan re-zipped the bag and stood.

"I'm going to stash this thing in one of the coffins downstairs. I know I don't have to tell you not to disturb it or not to let anyone disturb it."

Elijah nodded and looked about to say something when Stefan spoke again.

"Klaus gave me command of his hybrids so I will be in and out of here quite regularly. Just try to go with it," he said, smirking as he picked back up the bag and made for the basement.

Caroline came back down the stairs with her things in a garbage bag. Seeing only Elijah, she went towards the door. She paused when she heard her name.

"Ms. Forbes?" Elijah called.

Caroline stepped back from the front door and made her way to the foyer.

"Yes?" she replied to Elijah.

The oldest Original barely got out a sound before Stefan reappeared behind Caroline, squeezing her shoulder. She jumped slightly at the contact.

"Where did you go?" she asked.

"Oh, just had to get a few things straight before I start my new job," he said, with a small smile, then cast his warning look to Elijah, "Let's get out of here."

"Gladly," she said, quickly.

Elijah listened to their footsteps all the way to the door, out of the door, he listened to the car start and he heard it leave, only then did he breath out and retake his seat. He knew what he just saw, and he knew it to be true, but he still didn't want to believe it.

'As much as my brother claims to hate the residents of Mystic Falls, he can't seem to keep away,' Elijah reflected, thinking not only of Ms. Forbes and the doppelgangers but the unconscious bodies of Tyler Lockwood and Stefan Salvatore now under his house.


	21. Chapter 21

Stefan looked at the face that was reflected in the mirror. Something had gone terribly wrong. He could see himself doing things and hear himself saying things but he couldn't control his own body. He was thirsty, so thirsty but even when his body fed, he wasn't sated. He didn't even feel like he had fed at all. He had been in the car with Caroline and then with her and Katherine in the room. He felt his body fall asleep with Caroline in his arms and he felt when his body awoke in the middle of the night and went into the bathroom, locking the door behind him. His body stood in front of the mirror, wearing a very self-satisfied smirk.

"You with me, Stefan?" his body said.

Of course, Stefan couldn't say anything but oh he tried. In his mind, he thrashed and shouted.

"Okay, I'm feeling a tickle in my subconscious. I'm gonna assume that's you. I'm sure you've already realised that you're not in control here but I bet you didn't know that this isn't your body."

His body then pulled off his daylight ring and, like a veil had been dropped, it was Klaus' face looking back at him. Klaus laughed.

"This was actually so much more of a hassle than you will ever know. Had to leave the Quarter so Davina wouldn't pick up on the magic, find a witch willing to do the spell…actually it's a charm, woven into your daylight ring. I knew you'd had the same one for decades; it had on enough of your essence to act as the anchor. Plus, I had to wear it anyway, to fool Caroline. It doesn't actually make me look like you, it just makes everyone else think I do, which I guess is kind of the same thing."

Stefan struggled even harder at that. Klaus' eyes looked up for a moment and then straight ahead again. Chuckling, he continued.

"Again with the tickle. You know, I always thought the Lockwood mutt was the problem but it was you. You, the best friend, the trusted one, managed to slip past my notice. I don't think you're even fully aware of the influence you wield over her."

Klaus pushed his face closer to the mirror.

"Do you know that with a few touches, some nice phrases and maybe one, two lovely moments, she'd probably fall in love with you? Especially like now, when she's so vulnerable…but you'll see what I mean about that. I asked the witch to partially connect our consciousnesses so that you could see what I'm doing. I thought it was important that you realise, Stefan, that you will either work with me or…dessicate in a box while I do what I want to do anyway."

One last smile to the mirror and Klaus turned his back and left. He went back to the bed and lay against Caroline's back, pressing a soft kiss to her neck.

FIN?


End file.
